The Trend of Color

Today I was working on a rough sketch of an online timeline for a client, and I came across a graphic representation of all the colors in Crayola's lineup over the years (created by Alison Haigh, found on blog One Floor Up).

This is a beautiful thing, right? So elegant in it's lack of detail (like color names and dates), it forces the imagination to go exploring. I would be curious to see a version where like colors are beside each other more consistently, which would allow us to pontificate more greatly on why certain colors my have been introduced or discontinued. All in all, it's a fascinating journey into the trend of color.

Throwing Pasta

So, I've been working on a new design for my portfolio site. Okay, I've been working with an incredibly talented designer on a new design for my portfolio site. What a great creative experience! Why? Because I'm the client. It's been somewhat exhilirating.

After meeting with the designer for a bit, I decided that I wanted to pursue a design look to which I've always been attracted: Soviet-era propaganda posters. In fact, this was an idea I'd tried to design in the past, but just didn't have the design chops to pull it off.

The designer I'm working with on this project is one of those individuals who really responds well to collaboration; he feeds on it. I love that kind of collaboration. What self-respecting creative wouldn't? As long as a mutual respect exists, it's just a very productive process.

Why am I telling you all this obvious tale? To point out that the opposite process can produce very bland work. The "throwing it over the fence" mentality. It's easy to get into our ruts, as producers of content, and to avoid creative collaboration. And I'm saying - don't do it! Get out of your chair, sit with your creative partners and just throw the pasta on the wall.