Getting Colorful With Adobe Kuler!

One of the most important things about working as an artist/designer or any occupation for that matter is dealing with COLOR!  It applies to all of us!  Whether you are choosing clothing, paint colors for your house, colors for cars, paintings, iPhone covers, you name it -- it has color!  We all have a particular color we like whether it is blue, green, red, yellow or if you get more direct - magenta, royal purple, teal, etc.  Choosing colors can be very overwhelming at times mostly because a lot of colors appeal to us and most colors look great in what we are choosing them for!

When I was in graphic design school a few years ago, we were introduced to the new iMac computers when they first came out.  We also were introduced to the new Photoshop and Illustrator programs.  Back before this, you had to look for HEX codes on the internet.  A hex code is a series of 6 numbers/letters assigned to a specific color.  For example a shade of GREEN may have the code #66cc00 for a more neon colored.  There are hundreds if not thousands of shades of each color. 

In graphic and web design we assign HEX codes into our HTML so the computer and program you are coding within knows exactly which color you are wanting.  With logos, whatever software program is used for designing the logo, you also need to assign a HEX code to your specific color. 

Just like an artist's palette, you mix colors to make other colors, but in this case, there is no HEX code to be applied.  Experienced artists know which colors make which shades they need.

With web and graphic design, a very helpful tool I was introduced to about 5 years ago was Adobe Kuler.  Over the years, this program has been updated in many ways for the better!  They recently came out with the mobile version as well, which is very cool!

Adobe Kuler is a program where the user can create an account and create color palettes for different themes.  The mobile version above has an illustration of how the color finder on the software creates palettes for you and you can be anywhere!  If you are sitting in your office and turn on the application, it can create several palettes just from the colors in your office.  Use it on your walk, trip, bedroom, garden, mall, etc.  Anyplace you see awesome colors, turn on your application and see what you can create!  You have the option of taking a screenshot of your palette to save for later and by hitting the information buttons provided next to each palette, it will provide sliding guides if you wish to alter it a little and it also provides the HEX codes to each color.

The website version is much the same, however, in this case YOU create the palettes by clicking on the color wheel.  You can also browse palettes other users have posted for inspiration and HEX codes for reference.

As a graphic/web designer/artist, I refer my clients to this application to get a good vision of what colors they are looking for for their designs.  We can also create palettes for our customers for their approval on designs we are providing for them.  Each project we do, we think, visualize, brainstorm and research with the utmost passion.  We want our clients to stand out amongst the rest!  

If you have any questions regarding Adobe Kuler or are interested in any of our products, please send us an e-mail on our website in the Contact Us section and we will be more than happy to assist you!

We look forward to helping brand and accent your business!  We are going to be putting some economy and limited edition website templates on our site very soon, so please check back for updates!

Until then, design on!

Shannon