I often mention in my posts how time flies quickly and I’m gonna mention it again. I realized it’s been a month since I made my last post and it seriously hasn’t felt THAT long. This past month was pretty crazy with Chinese New Year gatherings, freelancing, a new job, new art ideas and new purchases to keep me inspired. I recently bought Pantone on Fashion because I was interested in seeing how color developed in fashion over the years and how notable luxury brands use color to revolutionize their brand.
I first came across this book while waiting for the plane in Jakarta airport last year. I didn’t end up buying it because admittedly, I didn’t have enough cash on me at the time. So instead, I spent a good few minutes flicking through the pages. The first thing that caught my eye was the cover…that bright yellow cover! The book didn’t have the cover case in the airport store but when I saw it online I noticed the casing is actually this really cool image:
They say never “judge a book by its cover”…and I just did. This book is exactly what I expected when I saw the yellow. The color has rapidly grown on me and it’s already my favorite color. It’s versatile with design, especially in web where you’ll see black, dark blue and yellow color combos frequently. Speaking from a psychological perspective, it’s a no-brainer yellow is friendly, inviting, often connoting nature and positive energy.
When I was working at Jin & Co. I usually gravitated towards yellow for a lot of the designs we did. My research is to blame for this as I’ve seen tonnes of yellow on the web and in print. It’s like using Helvetica for everything, my friends and my lecturer used to say “when in doubt, use Helvetica”. In this instance, yellow IS the Helvetica of color. In the first photo of this post, I wanted to point out that a lot of my favorite possessions are in yellow, I unconsciously pick these things without noticing the yellow. That’s how effective the color is haha! No but really, when putting these together I didn’t realize how common the color is in my room.
1. Keep Calm and Be Happy frame is a gift from my sister. An artwork of Kaws’ bearbrick portrait.
2. I’m a collector of keychains. The Pom pom and mini gameboy color is part of the collection (the gameboy works too)
3. Miniature mario, minion and golden mushroom toys. Minions came from McDonalds (another brand showing yellow prominently).
4. Sometime further down the track I hope to be proficient in Mandarin. The desire comes along with my love of watching popular Chinese TV shows, The Brain and If You Are The One. Part of it is also because my grandma wanted me to learn so I could communicate with her better. I regret not learning earlier as it is too late now. I got this mini book with 500 words in Chinese to memorize so I can take it everywhere.
5. Yellow paper and a dulux swatch. Yes I collect these things too!
6. I have lemons with water every morning.
7. Yellow box packaging. I went to NeNe chicken and did takeaway for the first time, the packaging is just as good as the chicken…I even asked for an extra box to keep for myself. I have a cupboard at home that keeps all my favorite packaging, from empty food boxes to clothes and cosmetic wrapping, whatever is unique I’ll definitely keep.
8. One of my favorite clients was BJ Balls Paper back in uni when asked to design a piece that highlights the awesomeness of their new paper range, “YUPO”. YUPO had yellow branding and I loved incorporating it into my design. It’s my take on a Snakes & Ladders board game classic, only with YUPO counters, and paper and ink as the primary visuals of the game mat.
As I said, yellow is versatile and is seen being applied to a lot of contemporary designs. Below are some discoveries I saved when browsing the web. Goes to show you how nice and effective yellow can be!
From Kikki.K’s blog: Kristina’s Guide to Creating a Positive Work Space
Paper fruit by Design studio ‘Safari Inc.’
Brianne Boland’s Yellow coffee branding
