Christmas is coming

GB took Jo and I on various trips this weekend - to shops, to see the Dream statue (about which I shall blog another day) , and so on.



One thing that really delighted me as I played with my new camera was how many colourful displays there were everywhere.












I was amazed to see that the shops are already gearing up for Christmas.




Only 87 more shopping days to Christmas.... Gosh - I'd better make a start.




 

Colour consistency

When Brian Harvey and I helped to create the new logo for Knowsley Borough Council many years ago one of the things on which he insisted was that everyone use the correct colour. This involved quoting colour reference numbers in all artwork and all paint jobs. It proved to be an important factor in getting the consistency for which we were aiming.



It has therefore amused me ever since to see examples of people introducing new logos or designs and failing to be consistent. The best example I have come across recently is in the Windsor cigarette packet change. They are obviously proud of their change of design and colour and have put a card in each new packet explaining that whilst the outside has changed the cigarettes inside are just the same. What they haven’t done is get their colours right so the advert in the packet is not the same colour as the new packet – in fact it’s more like the old one!

Colorcop

Another useful colour site is
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/wdnut/excerpt/color_names.html
This shows a number of basic colours with their RGB and Hex codes.
And while we are on the subject of colours can I point you to one of the best programs I have on my computer - Colorcop. It enables you to take a little eyedropper and put it anywhere on the screen to see what the RGB and Hex codes are for the colour on which it is placed. You can download it from
http://prall.net/colorcop/download

Hooker's Green

Hooker aged ??

Yesterday’s Blog about colours really got me hooked on this theme. I am fascinated as to how some of the name’s came about but let me at least put your mind at rest about the appropriateness of having a Hooker’s Green in children’s wax crayons.

Hooker aged 79

This is not a reference to the well-established profession of that name but (I assume) to Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817-1911) who was arguably the most important British botanist of the nineteenth century. A traveller and plant-collector, he was one of Charles Darwin’s closest friends and eventually became director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew.

Crayola crayons came into being in 1903 and a brief history of the firm and its colours can be found at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crayola
Another site with a history of the Crayola colours is
http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0872797.html

There are 120 basic Crayola colours but the total number of names is greater than that as there have been various retirements and replacements over the years. Crayola marked their 100th birthday by having consumers name new colours and voted four out: Blizzard Blue, Magic Mint, Mulberry, and Teal Blue to make way for Inch Worm, Jazzberry Jam, Mango Tango, and Wild Blue Yonder. An illustrated list of their colours can be found at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Crayola_crayon_colors
(Note:- if you scroll down that page there is a list in alphabetical order so you can actually see what Fuzzy wuzzy brown looks like!)

Crayola is based in Arundel, Maryland and this is the superb entrance to their shop. It was designed by RipBang Designs of California.

The Colour of Love

Some lesser known colour names in use at the moment for Crayola crayons, vehicles, etc
Aladdin Green
Amethyst Frost
Antiquarian Grey
Applesauce
Ashes of Roses
Astral

Atomic Orange
(replaced Chevrolet’s Daytona Sunset Orange metallic!)
Atomic Tangerine
Bachelor Button
Bibb Lettuce
Bing Cherry
Bishop Brown
Blizzard Blue
Boysenberry Cream
Brandy Alexander
Brown Sugar
Cabernet
Candy Apple Cashew
Celadon
Chopstick
Chutney
Cloud Pink
Crackerjack
Cremnitz White
Currency
Duckling
Egg Nog
Foggy Day
(Crayola Colour Chart, a digital collage from Jamie Shovlin, exhibited at the Tate. He sorted his crayon’s by hue in an attempt to form tetrads - combinations of colours from four equidistant points around the circle that when combined create perfect greys. There are 720 possible tetrad combinations with this many crayons and although Shovlin started the combinations, he gave up after trying out about twenty or so. Even that shows a heck of a lot of patience.)
Fuzzy wuzzy brown
Hooker’s Green
Kashmir Petal
Koala Bear
Mauvelous
Outrageous Orange
Pozzulola Earth
Pralines ‘n’ Cream
Purple Mountain’s Majesty
Radical Red
Razzmatazz
Screamin’ Green
Sutter’s Gold
Tickle me Pink
Unmellow Yellow