Category: Pantone

Happy New Year 2018

Chaz DeSimone Leave a comment

Dear AmperArt Fans

Happy New Year 2018

Thank you for showing your appreciation of the fun & fabulous ampersand by visiting my monthly creations. If you haven’t done so already, subscribe for your free monthly artwork featuring “the fun & fabulous ampersand.”

It has been another fun year of setting type, coloring pictures & creating layouts with our most interesting friend. (If you don’t know the story behind the ampersand, find out here.)

This New Year’s greet­ing fea­tures Pan­tone Col­or of the Year 2018, Ultra Vio­let 18 – 3838, as the sol­id back­ground col­or. It is fea­tured in Amper­Art #118 Mag­i­cal & Mys­ti­cal, along with specs and notes about the color.

Typog­ra­phy for this piece: 
Year & amper­sand set in Shelley-​Allegro Script
Words set in Onyx

This is not a typ­i­cal Amper­Art poster; rather a sin­cere wish for you to enjoy a proper­ous, healthy & hap­py New Year. (But it does, of course, con­tain an ampersand.)

See you in 2018.

 

 

 

—Chaz DeS­i­mone
Typog­ra­ph­er & design­er & cre­ator of AmperArt

.

For pro­fes­sion­al graph­ic design, please vis­it Des­i­mone Design.

Desimone? Damn good!

#118 Magical & Mystical

Chaz DeSimone 1 Comment
118 Magical & Mystical
#118 Magical & Mystical
Click image to view full size or download poster for gallery-​quality printing & framing.
This is a high-​resolution pdf & may take a few minutes to download.
Find printing tips & framing ideas here.

Pantone Ultra Violet is Color of the Year for 2018

Through­out my design career I’ve gone through T‑squares, pro­por­tion wheels, repro cam­eras, ink­ing pens, light tables & couri­er ser­vices — all of which have been replaced by com­put­ers, pro­grams & the inter­net. But one thing that has been con­stant, & still in the same swatch­book form as fifty years ago, is the invalu­able Pan­tone col­or match­ing sys­tem. Back then it was the only way to guar­an­tee col­or con­sis­ten­cy from draw­ing board to press. Today it serves the same exact pur­pose, in the same exact way, with the addi­tion of exten­sive tools & sys­tems for elec­tron­ic com­mu­ni­ca­tion. Just like the con­sis­ten­cy of col­or from one medi­um to the next, even Pan­tone’s logo & brand iden­ti­ty has remained con­sis­tent & contemporary.

The new mil­len­ni­um, 2000, intro­duced the Pan­tone Col­or of the Year. Since then it has become a high­ly antic­i­pat­ed announce­ment. See past Pan­tone Col­ors of the Year here. Shop Pan­tone books, swatch­es, & gift items here.

A seem­ing­ly nat­ur­al pro­gres­sion from Pan­tone Col­or of the Year 2017, Green­ery 15 – 0343, is Pan­tone Col­or of the Year 2018: Ultra Vio­let 18 – 3838. Green­ery was earthy, where­as Ultra Vio­let is ethereal.

Accord­ing to the spec­tac­u­lar webi­nar pre­sent­ed by Lau­rie Press­man, vice pres­i­dent of Pan­tone Col­or Insti­tute, announc­ing the Pan­tone Col­or of the Year 2018:

“Complex & contemplative, Ultra Violet suggests the mysteries of the cosmos, the intrigue of what lies ahead, & the discoveries beyond where we are now…

“Provocative & thoughtful, Ultra Violet communicates the originality, ingenuity, & visionary thinking that creates a meaningful direction to our future…

“From exploring new technologies & the greater galaxy, to artistic expression & spiritual reflection, intuitive Ultra Violet lights the way for what is yet to come.”

Accord­ing to Ms. Press­man, the Pan­tone Col­or of the Year is cho­sen not on a whim or by any­one’s “favorite col­or.” It is based on pop­u­lar trends among sev­er­al indus­tries — fash­ion, décor, auto­mo­tive, pack­ag­ing, adver­tis­ing & art — and deter­mined through inten­sive ana­lyza­tion & foresight.

Cosmos to Cauliflower

purple fruits & vegetables

While Pan­tone Ultra Vio­let con­jures spir­its, intrigue & the mys­ter­ies of the uni­verse, it also rep­re­sents health & well­ness. Accord­ing to experts such as Lak­sh­mi Van­dra­pu,  pro­tect your brain’s health with a diverse range of pro­duce from this col­or family:
Beets
Black­ber­ries
Black cur­rants
Blue­ber­ries
Egg­plant
Grapes
Plums
Pur­ple sweet potatoes

I have seen oth­er fruits & veg­eta­bles in shades of pur­ple, such as cau­li­flower, aspara­gus & cab­bage. Cook­ies, ice cream & vod­ka too, but they’re not quite as healthy.

Purple Peanut Butter

I’ve nev­er cared much for grape jel­ly nor peanut but­ter & jel­ly sand­wich­es. But what real­ly grossed me out was when they mixed the two togeth­er in a sin­gle jar. One brand at least made it look some­what appeal­ing — lay­ers of pur­ple & brown, like a par­fait. But one cheapo gener­ic brand mixed it all togeth­er & the result was the most dis­gust­ing col­or for human con­sump­tion I’ve ever seen.

Would you eat this?

Maybe that’s why pur­ple has nev­er been my favorite col­or (same goes for brown). But that does­n’t mean I don’t design with it. When com­bined with oth­er col­ors — as a back­drop, the main sub­ject, or as an accent — it has brought to life con­cep­tu­al ren­der­ings, fol­lowed by final pro­duc­tion, that no oth­er col­or could have achieved. Pur­ples & vio­lets, which are made up of blue & red (or cyan & magen­ta) can be warm, cool, or neu­tral. Pan­tone Ultra Vio­let appears neutral.

Purple Trivia

Here are a few facts about pur­ple. Dis­cov­er lots more at sen​sa​tion​al​col​or​.com

  • Pur­ple was the col­or of the first dye made by man
  • Pur­ple is the col­or of the high­est denom­i­na­tion pok­er chip, $5,000
  • Pur­ple is the favorite col­or of ado­les­cent girls

Pantone Ultra Violet 18 – 3838

Inter­est­ing­ly, ultra vio­let light (not the col­or name) can­not be seen by the human eye. Also known as “black light,” it excites the phos­pho­rs in flu­o­res­cent paints & mate­ri­als, caus­ing them to glow in total dark­ness. Many fish & flow­ers have this prop­er­ty. But the light source itself is invisible.

Vis­i­ble or not, Ultra Vio­let is a super cool name for the Pan­tone Col­or of the Year 2018.

You’ll see many fas­ci­nat­ing appli­ca­tions, as well as inspir­ing col­or palettes, for Pan­tone Ultra Vio­let 18 – 3838 at the Pan­tone web­site.

 

Specs

118 Magical & MysticalPan­toneUl­tra Vio­let is pre­sent­ed as the amper­sand & text in Amper­Art #118 Mag­i­cal & Mys­ti­cal. Here are the specs for the Pan­tone 2017 Col­or of the Year:

Pan­tone Ultra Vio­let 18 – 3838
Graph­ics (clos­est match): Pan­tone 2096 C /​ RGB 101 78 163 /​ CMYK 76 75 0 0 /​ HEX 654EA3

The Fash­ion, Home & Inte­ri­ors Cot­ton & Plas­tic for­mu­las are slight­ly dif­fer­ent. See here.

Vis­it Pan​tone​.com for mag­i­cal & mys­ti­cal col­or insights.

 

chaz sez ...

Check out the new “chaz sez” blog at Des​i​moneDesign​.com, my com­mer­cial graph­ic design web­site. It’s most­ly about design, typog­ra­phy, print­ing, pub­lish­ing & mar­ket­ing, but on occa­sion I’ll divert to a side­ways top­ic that just can’t escape my rant­i­ng & raving.

Production notes for #118 Magical & Mystical:
Original size: 20x30 inches
Program: Adobe Photoshop
Fonts: Baker Signet, Benguait Charisma
Ampersand: Benguait Charisma
Credits:
Produce: Lakschmi Vandrapu
Spec chart: Pantone   
Purple facts: Kate Smith, Sensational Color
You may repost the image. Please credit Amper​Art​.com.
To download a full-​size high-​resolution 11x17-​inch poster, click on the image.

For pro­fes­sion­al graph­ic design, please vis­it Des­i­mone Design.

Desimone? Damn good!

#98 Fresh & Alive

Chaz DeSimone Leave a comment
 
 

#98 Fresh & Alive color of Pantone Greenery

 #98 Fresh & Alive
Click image to view full size or download poster for gallery-​quality printing & framing.
This is a high-​resolution pdf & may take a few minutes to download.
Find printing tips & framing ideas here.

Pantone Greenery is Color of the Year for 2017

In a stark con­trast from last year’s rather dull pas­tel Col­ors of the Year, Pan­tone has intro­duced a Fresh & Alive col­or (back to just one, too) for 2017: Green­ery 15 – 0343.

No more diaper poo

What a refresh­ing change (of dia­pers) from last year’s dull, infan­tile Col­ors of the Year for 2016, Rose Quartz & Seren­i­ty — or as I call them, Putrid Pink & Bland Blue. I can still smell the whiffs of dia­per poo from these bor­ing baby room col­ors. (No, I’ve nev­er had chil­dren. Can you guess why? And besides that, they’d grow up to be derelict I’m sure, because I would paint their room in sol­id black, my favorite col­or, & all their toys would be var­i­ous shapes of amper­sands. Of course I’d name my kids &y and &rea.)

Trees, grass & crisp green apples

Granny Smith color of Pantone GreeneryThis year it’s the fresh & alive scent of tall trees, crisp cel­ery, crunchy Granny Smith apples, tart limes, a freshly-​mown lawn & just-​plucked sprigs of mint*:

Pantone Greenery 15 – 0343

I hope this vibrant col­or catch­es on, because the fresh & alive hue will cer­tain­ly bright­en up our days, whether in print, paint, or prod­ucts. I’ll proud­ly wear a T shirt in Pan­tone Green­ery with the CMYK and RGB specs print­ed on it (54 0 100 0 /​ 132 189 0). You wouldn’t have caught me dead wear­ing Putrid Pink & Bland Blue last year.

mint color of Pantone Greenery

 

*Add this secret ingre­di­ent to your home­made meat­balls: a few chopped fresh & alive mint leaves. That’s what would sep­a­rate my mom’s deli­cious meat­balls from the rest.

 

Specs

Pan­tone Green­ery is pre­sent­ed as the sol­id back­ground in Amper­Art #98 Fresh & Alive. Here are the specs for the Pan­tone 2017 Col­or of the Year:

Green­ery 15 – 0343
Graph­ics (clos­est match): Pan­tone 376 C /​ RGB 132 189 0 /​ CMYK 54 0 100 0 /​ HEX 84BD00
The Fash­ion + Home and Plas­tic for­mu­las are slight­ly dif­fer­ent. See here.

Vis­it Pan​tone​.com for fresh & alive col­or insights.

 

chaz sez ...

Check out the new “chaz sez” blog at Des​i​moneDesign​.com, my com­mer­cial graph­ic design web­site. It’s most­ly about design, typog­ra­phy, print­ing, pub­lish­ing & mar­ket­ing, but on occa­sion I’ll divert to a side­ways top­ic that just can’t escape my rant­i­ng & raving.

Production notes for #98 Fresh & Alive:
Original size: 20x30 inches
Program: Adobe Illustrator & Photoshop
Font: Capistrano (modified)
Ampersand: a fresh & alive squiggle
Credits:
Ladybug: istock​pho​to​.com /​ photograph by dionisvero
Apple: fit​ness​.stack​ex​change​.com
Mint: ingofwall​pa​pers​.com
You may repost the image. Please credit Amper​Art​.com.
To download a full-​size high-​resolution 11x17-​inch poster, click on the image.

For pro­fes­sion­al graph­ic design, please vis­it Des­i­mone Design.

Desimone? Damn good!