February 2018 Project Results - Floral Patterns

Nicole Sturk February 28, 2018

Last day of February! I really enjoyed working on my floral patterns this month. I picked three of my favorites and created a mini collection of finished pieces.

Here are the original sketches. I united the three different ideas into one color palette, which is based on Pantone's Floral Fantasies theme.

And here are the final patterns, created as vector art in Illustrator.

Here are some alternate versions with simpler one and two color palettes.

Thanks for following along with me! It was nice to accomplish something for myself that I can now add to my portfolio. I'm loving my monthly personal project idea so far! Stay tuned for something new in March...

Sincerely, Nicole

Links:

Pantone - Ultra Violet

This Month's Theme is...COLOR

Beyond Basic Color Theory—Four Things More Important Than the Color Wheel

How I Find My Colors

The Pantone Color of the Year: Ultra Violet

Nicole Sturk February 22, 2018

This year's "Color of the Year" according to Pantone, a leading color resource for designers, is Ultra Violet (Pantone 18-3838). It is a blue-based purple hue that is inspired by the night sky.

Some of the words Pantone uses in association with Ultra Violet include:

complex
contemplative
cosmos
limitless
unconventional
experimentation
meditation
reflection

I would definitely encourage you to check out Pantone's full description on their website. Ultra Violet is definitely a color that can inspire me, given my preference for deep, vivid colors. I love how Pantone seeks to make it a symbol of unlimited possibilities. Definitely motivating for artists!

As I mentioned in my previous post, if you go to their website, Pantone offers some suggested color palettes that include Ultra Violet. I used a couple of these in some of my floral pattern sketches as part of my monthly project.

What do you think of Pantone's Color of the Year? Does it inspire you? Do you feel differently after reading Pantone's description? I'd love to know your thoughts!

Sincerely, Nicole

Links:

Pantone - Ultra Violet

This Month's Theme is...COLOR

Beyond Basic Color Theory—Four Things More Important Than the Color Wheel

How I Find My Colors

February 2018 Floral Patterns, Part 1

Nicole Sturk February 15, 2018

Well, I'm halfway through the month of February, and so far I've managed to take time to sketch a floral pattern every day. (Read more about my project here.) If you're not following along on Instagram, here is a summary of what I've done up to this point.

What do you think? Do you have any favorites? Please, let me know!

Sincerely, Nicole

Links

This Month's Theme is . . . COLOR

@nicolejonessturk on Instagram

Where I Find My Colors

Nicole Sturk February 12, 2018

Now that I've discussed how to create an effective color palette, let me also mention that there's another way easier method—just use a color palette that already exists! When I'm working on a new design, I don't always develop my color scheme from scratch. I am constantly finding color inspiration and building a library of swatches and palettes that I can pull from when I need it. If I already have one on hand that would work great for my project, I take it and tweak it to fit my needs.

Color Palette Resources

There are numerous resources out there for finding color palettes. These are just a few that I use myself on a regular basis:

Is there no greater design resource? I mean, really, this one of my top places to find ideas for ANYTHING—art, cooking, crafts, home, and more. Nothing could be easier than typing "color palettes" into the search bar and seeing what pops up. You can get lost for hours pinning away.

Websites and apps

There are a number of websites and mobile apps tailored just for creating and discovering colors. You can view the palettes created by members of the community, or create your own. I've linked to a list of good sites and apps below.

Other art, patterns, photos

Use the above mentioned mobile apps and your camera phone to pull colors from physical items, such as photos, artwork, fabric swatches, or nature.

Pantone

Pantone is a standard color resource for designers and always a good place to start. They offer a number of products and resources for designers, including their own palettes that you can download for use in Adobe applications, such as Photoshop or Illustrator. (Psst... Stay tuned for more on my take on 2017's Pantone Color of the Year, Ultra Violet.)

Color Palette Inspiration

For some instant inspiration, here are some favorite color schemes I like that I've come across lately:

I feel that I tend to lean towards deep, saturated colors, especially jewel tones.

I'm also a sucker for anything with pink or red, my favorite colors. Pink and green tends to be my default color combination when I'm sketching florals.

Autumn hues make me happy because they remind me of my favorite time of year.

I love to see bright pops of color in more desaturated palettes.

Examples in My Work

Spoonflower occasionally uses a limited palette to inspire one of their weekly design challenges. Here are a couple that I've participated in.

This last design was created for the current design challenge. It's open to public voting on February 15th and closes on the 20th. (EDIT: Voting now closed)

I hope you are excited to get out there and explore all the color around you. Till next time!

Sincerely, Nicole

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Scroll down for posts or browse below…

February 2018 Project Results - Floral Patterns

Links:

The Pantone Color of the Year: Ultra Violet

Links:

February 2018 Floral Patterns, Part 1

Where I Find My Colors

Color Palette Resources

Pinterest

Websites and apps

Other art, patterns, photos

Pantone

Color Palette Inspiration

Examples in My Work

Links

Web and mobile app resources

Browse color palettes online:

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