subject: Shearerpainting Color - Messages & Meanings: A PANTONE Color Guide [print this page] Shearerpainting Color - Messages & Meanings: A PANTONE Color Guide
By Leatrice Eiseman Review
Books on color may be easy to come by, but not many receive the high accolades that Messages & Meanings: A PANTONE Color Resource (by Leatrice Eiseman) does. Amazon.com customers call it, "a great resource.that my team loves to reference," "interesting," "excellent," and "the best color guide;" one graphic design student said she even used it for class and that it was, "the best I could have asked for."
Messages & Meanings is a follow-up to the PANTONE Guide to Communicating with Color; it could even be viewed as a sequel. The difference is that it is chock-full of new material, like color families, color in the marketplace (in terms of advertising, packaging, visual presentations, etc.), dissecting the color wheel into schemes, color order, mood creation with color combinations, color conversions, insights on how to incorporate color into your work, and future trends.
A reader favorite is the section on evoking different feelings with certain colors; for example, pinks give the impression of sweetness. This could be why so many successful bakeries use pastels in their signage (see Cupcake Royale in Seattle, WA). Browns and purple tones bring to mind a high taste level or richness. Greens, browns, and tans make us think of foliage, so environmental groups may be partial to these. Blues are sentimental and nostalgic. So while you can read this review and picture the different colors, it's much better to read Messages & Meanings.
Eiseman states all of the above, but also provides PANTONE color cards as well as including pictures of everyday objects, or advertising samples in the colors she is discussing. For example, in the blue section, Eiseman talks of the sentimentality of "delicately pressed flowers, tinted postcards, faded photos in an old album, vintage ads and posters," and she includes pictures of blue and purple flowers, blue eggs, a kitschy menu, etc. The PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM is the definitive international reference for selecting, specifying, matching and controlling ink colors. The PANTONE FORMULA GUIDE, a three-guide set consisting of 1,114 solid PANTONE Colors on coated, uncoated and matte stock, shows corresponding printing ink formulas for each color, and the three-book set of SOLID CHIPS provides coated, uncoated and matte perforated tear-out chips that can be used for quality control.
Eiseman has created phenomenal tool and easy reference for homeowners, amateurs, students, and designers. Messages and Meanings will skillfully and creatively guide you through your color exploration.
Pantone LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of X-Rite, Incorporated, is the world-renowned authority on color. For more than 45 years, Pantone has been inspiring design professionals with products, services and leading technology for the colorful exploration and expression of creativity.
In 1963, Lawrence Herbert, Pantone's founder, created an innovative system for identifying, matching and communicating colors to solve the problems associated with producing accurate color matches in the graphic arts community. His insight that the spectrum is seen and interpreted differently by each individual led to the innovation of the PANTONE? MATCHING SYSTEM?, a book of standardized color in fan format.
Pantone has expanded its color matching system concept to other color-critical industries, including digital technology, fashion, home, plastics, architecture and contract interiors, and paint. Today, the PANTONE Name is known worldwide as the standard language for accurate color communication, from designer to manufacturer to retailer to customer, across a variety of industries. Pantone continues to develop color communication and inspirational tools, and aggressively adopts new digital technology to address the color needs of the creative community everywhere.
