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109 of 118 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Look at the pictures, but don't read the copy, February 21, 2004
This review is from: Color Index: Over 1100 Color Combinations, CMYK and RGB Formulas, for Print and Web Media (Turtleback)
This book provides a designer with a fabulous resource for generating color schemes/combinations quickly and easily. In that respect, it inspires. However, the author provides recipes (CMYK and RGB values) "checked for accuracy", never stating on what media those values may be valid. He then excuses himself by saying that "the potential for error exists". The implication that a set of CMYK values is in any way "accurate" beyond the inks and papers used for this particular publication is so, eh, mid-1990s. A true, but technically more challenging statement of the color values should have been made with device independent Lab values. Then anyone with Adobe Photoshop, for example, could reproduce the samples on his or her own media. This is, in fact, what Pantone does. And aspiring web designers beware! The author clearly has little but old and second-hand knowledge of the facts of color on the web. He describes the anachronistic "browser safe" colors as if most computer users still had old 8-bit (256 color) monitors, and as if there was ever color consistency across them. In those bad old days we fought dithering (the "speckles") in solid fills by choosing from amongst the 216 colors Macs and PC monitors had in common. Those days, except for some dusty intranets here and there, are gone. deceased. expired. However, neither then nor now could we count on consistency on our viewers' monitors--unless we can strongarm our audience into calibrating and profiling them. These particular rants aside (the writer sighs benignly), the color examples are truly wonderful, useful, and inspiring. In short, fabulous for samples, but not for accuracy of data.
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43 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Stuck for a color combo? Look here!, March 5, 2005
This review is from: Color Index: Over 1100 Color Combinations, CMYK and RGB Formulas, for Print and Web Media (Turtleback)
I'd heard about this guide on websites devoted to scrapbooking, and when I finally tracked it down, I almost didn't buy it. I looked at it and thought, "What the heck?" It is pages and pages of color combinations, arranged according to color groupings, with suggested "moods," like "retro." So what? I thought.
However, my respect for the work of those who'd recommended it overcame my initial doubts. As a designer in paper arts, I tend to get into my color ruts, and choose the same basic color combos. "Color Index" has helped me break out of my rut in a couple of different ways.
Sometimes, when I just don't feel inspired, I'll simply sit down with the book and page through it, tabbing color combinations I find interesting or appealing. Later, when I'm working in my studio, I'll take a look at the tabbed combos for ideas I can use.
Other times, I may know of one color I want to use for a design, but am stuck for accents to use. I'll take the paper I've chosen, page through the combinations and take into consideration those "moods" as well. I've discovered many combinations of color I'd never have considered otherwise, like tan with deep burgundy, accented by bright turquoise. Sounds like a bizarre mix, but it worked for that project, which was eventually published by a major scrapbooking magazine.
The book isn't flashy like other design books, but I've found it to be a dependable while inspiring workhorse in my studio.
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must for designers of all levels & a well-built book too., July 1, 2002
This review is from: Color Index: Over 1100 Color Combinations, CMYK and RGB Formulas, for Print and Web Media (Turtleback)
I have more reference books on design than, well... more than I care to count. These include a number on color - but most guides are really fixated on Pantone - which is odd considering that 4-color work is more common. This book is always by my side. Its schemes are fantastic in cmyk, rbg and websafe. Its categories are much better than most of the color guides I've seen (and bought). What's more - its size and sturdy plastic covers are great - and unlike almost every other design reference book I own - THE BINDING IS SEWN - so THE PAGES WON'T FALL OUT. There is nothing more infuriating than a good reference that falls apart before it even gets a good try. Everyone else who reviewed this book mentioned its many other fine points. But I have to add this one, particularly after the glue on one of my Robin William's books melted on a first read. This BOOK IS VIRTUALLY INDESTRUCTIBLE. Worth every penny!
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