Kelvin: Colour Today [Hardcover]

Robert Klanten (Editor), Boris Brumnjak (Editor), Sven Ehmann (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2007

Color is playing an increasingly significant role in global visual communication. It is being used more than ever to give design projects, campaigns and brands their own distinctive style. Surprisingly, however, very little has so far been published that investigates today's evolving perception and application of color.

Color, or more precisely color temperature, is measured in a unit called the Kelvin. The book Kelvin shows some of the effects of the deliberate use of color. Each chapter focuses on a color: green, red, blue, yellow, and orange as well as the achromatic "colors" black and white.

This comprehensive book includes recent, top quality design work and documents exciting projects from photography, illustration and product design that deal with color in remarkable ways. Alongside images of clear and distinctive color allocation, Kelvin also includes more intricate and playful examples that illustrate contemporary color combinations. This structure ensures that the reader is introduced to the subject of color in an instructive as well as an associative and experimental way.

Each chapter in Kelvin starts with an essay or interview that puts the selected works into context. The book also investigates complex subject areas such as classic color theory, the meaning of color in various cultures and the effect of color in brand management.

With its current examples of striking creative work and insightful analysis, Kelvin provides both usability and inspiration for professionals in graphic design, as well as anyone working in the fields of fashion, interior design, lifestyle and art.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 323 pages
• Publisher: Dgv (October 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 3899551966
• ISBN-13: 978-3899551969
• Product Dimensions: 12.1 x 10.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,309,986 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars state-of-the-art use of color in commercial art and design, January 31, 2008

By 

Henry Berry "Henry Berry" (Southport, CT) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kelvin: Colour Today (Hardcover)

"Kelvin is the temperature of color," say the editors, applying the name of a temperature scale to the exotic contemporary world of color in commercial art, advertising, posters, packaging, public objects, consumer products, and illustration. "Kelvin" is not only descriptive of the unprecedented range of colors made possible by computer art, but also "represents a method of searching and collecting [colors in] the rich soil of a creative global atmosphere". The liberal, imaginative use of color can be seen in Japan, India, and parts of Africa; though practically all of the countless samples of this volume are from countries throughout Europe.

Ann Krauter in her introductory essay, after a survey of major historical theories of color by scientists and artists, arrives at the idea of the "autonomy of color" held by the Abstract Expressionists. This notion of color's autonomy has since entered popular culture and the marketplace to give the culture its distinctive postmodern vibrancy as well as be an element of creativity for artists in all areas. Krauter is currently teaching at the U. of Applied Sciences in Berne, Switzerland.

The two introductory essays are pithy and stimulating. But this text takes up only the first few pages of the book. By far, the content is the result of the "searching and collecting" mentioned in the essay by the editors. The color that is the subject of the book is put into chapters by primary colors of the traditional color spectrum with the outside page edges of each chapter in the respective color. These page edges are like a rainbow.

In keeping with today's notion of the autonomy of color and the infinite possibilities made possible by computers, the hues within each primary color vary considerably. Orange, for example, ranges from natural orange like the rind of the fruit to a bright, metallic, electric orange which is almost like glowing gold. Yellow ranges from pale to a luxurious lemon with extraordinary depth and intensity. The assortment of objects, too, exhibiting the cornucopia of color exemplifies the preeminent place of color in contemporary life.

The volume which is something of a record of the breadth and imagination of contemporary color is also a source of stimulation and ideas for the further exploration of the bounds, essence, and use of color.