Customer Reviews

Pantone Guide to Communicating With Color

5 star:		(50)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I teach digital media and design to grade eleven and twelve students. This is the only book on Color that my students responded to with enthusiasm. The book covers color theory very basically. However, it does an excellent job of covering the more important topics of the meaning and psychology of colors and color combinations. The author uses good examples for each section and the book can be used as a learning tool or a resource you can use again and again. My students found the many pantone color combination swatches very useful in helping setup the color schemes for their designs. My students and I recommend this book highly, You might say this review is 5 stars taken 80 times.

I love this new book. As a graphic artist, color selection has been a weak area for me - I know when I finally get the right picks, but often the process takes me too long. This guide is a great time saver, with lots of color combinations to choose from, nicely catogorized by moods or feelings that they can provoke. It is also a very good educational tool on the basics of color for new students or for a refresher for anyone. The book is beautifuly laid out with wonderful color pictures. An added benifit for graphic production is the handy table in the back of the book that converts Pantone colors into 4 and 6 color process percentages. A Great Buy!

I really love this book.

What it IS: This is a lovely little book filled with colors, color combinations, moods, visuals, designs, ideas, and more color, color, color! I find it sparks reactions, starts dialogue, and fuels creativity for myself and for my clients. As a professional designer, I find this is great to use with clients to help them get VISUALLY into the their project so I can get out of them the things I need to create and produce an effective product that pleases the client AND fulfills its function. I also leave it out on the coffee table in my lounge (with my portfolio) so clients can look at it and they do.

What it is NOT: This is not a book about color theory or color management. Although it includes some basic text about how different colors are supposed to convery different things in the marketing and communications world, which may be somewhat useful on some ocassions, color can be so subjective to the individual, the culture, the times, that I wouldn't follow the text as absolute.

Recommended? Yes, if you want a fun, inspiring and useful little book that is also lovely to look at and helpful to share with your clients.

I probably use Pantone's Guide to Communicating with Color more often than any other design resource book. It's the first book I refer to when starting a new project if I'm the one to determine the color palette. Not only does the book give a good overview of what different colors mean to a viewer, it includes more than 600 color palettes in 28 categories. Each category lists the feeling that is evoked and provides Pantone numbers for each palette - a "grab and go" feature I've used on low-budget and/or rush jobs.

Finally, the book is full of outstanding real-world examples of projects using the palettes discussed. Even if I'm working on a project with an already established color palette, I turn to this book for design inspiration.

In my opinion, this is a must-have book for any designer.

This book is packed with great color combinations catorgorized into color schemes by the emotional moods they generate. When I am working with clients in web design, I use this book to help them focus on the tone of their website or product. First, they choose from the many categories such as Classic, Strong, Energetic, Calm, etc., and from there they choose one or two of the perfectly matched color combinations for their basic website colors. It's a great visual tool!
Also included are some basics on color theory, setting moods with color, and some useful advice in choosing appropriate colors for different projects.
Well written, easy to read, and to the point, this book has become a favorite on my desk!

As an owner of a graphic design studio, I have a huge library of design books. Your book is one of the best investments I have made since I opened my business. It's wonderful for design and color inspiration.

I happened upon Leatrice Eiseman's book through a graphic design book club membership that I have. This book is a constant source of ideas for me as a designer. I utilize this book for inspiration... a launching pad for color schemes, themes and palettes that I haven't found anywhere else.

Color has huge importance in the world of design and communication - Leatrice's book walks you through clearly, distinctly and with excellent examples and direction.

I've taught classes on Color Theory and Using Color and I wouldn't dare step in front of my classrooms without this book in hand. I refer it to colleagues and students every chance I get.

Whether you are in print design, digital media (that's me) -- or simply love color and it's applications in all mediums... you will benefit from having this book in your library.

Every designer likes to challenge themselves to making great designs with typography usage and using unique designs to catch one's attention.

I believe that to also catch attention, a designer needs to train themselves in the use of color. Understanding color. It's not as easy as it sounds but if you have the right tools and the right people teaching you, you can pull of awesome designs.

Also, when it comes to color...it's hard when over the phone, a client or agency wants an ad in a certain color. "I would like a color between burgundy and red", "I want a dark forest green but not too dark or too light" and with your color booklet, you can either take it to the client or agency and have them pick it out and then what's next?

Your client wants an orange ad, a red ad, a neutral ad, something energetic, something playful, something... But what other colors would go with that orange, that red, that neutral, etc.

For many years I have heard and read about Leatrice Eiseman aka the color guru and the presentations she has given to different groups about understanding color and how color can make a big difference in one's life.

I have to admit that my head was spinning in the last few weeks because although I felt I was good with color, I've been given work which used colors that I would not normally pick for ads. But as a designer, you need to make it happen and thus knowing Eiseman's role and how she has help many people understand color, I looked toward the "Pantone Guide to Communicating with Color".

I have spent a lot of money on color booklets but this book literally... let's just say that I'm happy and has brought new life to my work.

Not only does she break down the colors and certain moods, for each section is a section for color combinations. She goes into the choices of colors and why they are appropriate and why the work. On the page before it are magazine ads that used those appropriate colors and I was just amazed.

Before I would stick with certain colors for certain moods and most of the time, they were the same Pantone colors but now thanks to this book, I'm not afraid to take the step in utilizing other colors for different moods and I can quickly reference what other colors combinations would work for my ads.

I don't know how I can emphasize how useful this book is as a tool and reference book. It goes beyond to what I expected. If you want to understand color and help your designs to make up a certain mood, this book is highly recommended as the first book under the $50 range! In fact, this book does even better than some expensive color books are able to achieve. Check it out!

I have a part-time avocation as a graphic designer, having spent many years as a public relations/communications director. One of the elements that always made my print pieces stand out was the use of colour, and I learned how to use colour from Pantone.

This is a good guide for understanding colour and its uses for print and visual media. It discusses how the different colours interact, as well as what mixtures produce different kinds of depths and hues in the colour itself. There is a section that addresses the kinds of emotional responses people give to colours - why, for example, McDonalds had for a time such a predominance of the colour red in their stores, or why certain colours of cars are more or less likely to stand out among the others. Even subtle uses of colour are addressed - why does a teacher grading with a red pen become known as being more critical than the teacher doing the same commentary and correction with a green pen? But not all of these are obvious. For example, black in print and colour media often symbolises power, sophistication, style and elegance (think tuxedos) instead of more traditional 'dark' ideas. The guide states that 'In recent years, attitudes about black have changed more than any other colour with positive associations outweighing the negative.'

This book also gives some fascinating insights into the future of colour. Particularly where print media and personal photography is concerned, the use of colour has never been more possible. Illuminated manuscripts of old, which used to be the only full-colour texts, now have the modern full-colour-process productions as competition for grandeur; the typical Sunday comic pages has more colour that the typical production of almost any sort for centuries.

The graphic layout of this book is interesting and thoughtfully done, and, as one can expect, done in glorious colour. The layouts are artistically creative, giving literally hundreds of examples of use of colour in different ways.

This is a good guide, and a fun book.

I give high marks to Leatrice Eiseman for giving us a book we can actually use! This book has become an essential at my work station, with it's exceptional use of examples, hundreds of color palettes and fantastic layout. A pleasure just to browse through. It's a book, it's a tool, it's a guide, it's an idea starter. Add it to your collection.