traceytoole: Color Palettes: The Process

When I was a menswear designer many moons ago, I think one of my favorite parts of the process was creating the color palette. Three times a year I would spend about 2 weeks looking at trade magazines and trend books. I would gaze and dream at color chips 6 to 8 hours a day. Mixing and matching color combinations. What was complementary. what was subtle, what would sell. The bottom line of course, what would sell. For a core palette, these are the colors that the solid shirts and bottoms would come in, were usually "safe". Navy, olive, tan, khaki, black, maybe a deep red. However I also designed yarndyes (plaids and stripes that are dyed not printed), this was the good stuff. I was able to create a plaid with the colors below! A grey and white plaid with single yarns of pinks and oranges! It would get me excited! I loved it! I miss it!
Even now when starting a new season I find it always helpful and most importantly inspirational to create color palettes. It's a good exercise. It assists the transition whether it be winter to spring or summer to fall.

Sometimes I use my photos, sometimes magazine tear sheets sometimes it may be a print or a stack of fabrics or a yarn selection. Whatever you see, take a photo and pull your colors from it. There is a website called Stylyze that I used for some of the below palettes. It's a very good way to wet your creative toes. Whether you use pantone chips, paint chips or snippets of yarn or fabric put them on a piece of paper and hang it on the wall!