How does color make you feel?
By Laura Jackson
How does color make you feel? When you are surrounded by a soft blue do you notice a sense of inner calm? Are you instantly energized by a sexy red?
Throughout history we have tried to discover how different colors affect our moods and why. Even ancient Egyptians practiced a form of chromotherapy as a means of healing, believing exposure to certain colors produced physical results. Today, color therapy is still a growing field of alternative medicine.
However, while much of why color affects us the way it does still remains a mystery, there’s no denying the powerful responses it elicits. The art of fashion has always celebrated the power of color and this year is no different.
Pantone Inc., considered the world-renowned authority on color and provider of professional color standards for the design industries, announced earlier this year the color of 2012 as the enticing Tangerine Tango. And this exhilarating color has been showing up en masse on runways, at boutiques, in accessories, product designs, and much more.
Leatrice Eiseman, the executive director of the Pantone Color Institute®, has built a successful career around understanding how people react to color and sharing that expertise with all sorts of clients including fashion designers, product manufacturers, and marketing teams—from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies. She describes this tantalizing color, “Sophisticated but at the same time dramatic and seductive, Tangerine Tango is an orange with a lot of depth to it.”
Also the Director of the Eiseman Center for Color Information and Training, she has combined her psychology background and design expertise to teach clients from around the world about the power and importance of color. Eiseman is also the author of eight books on color including Colors For Your Every Mood, chosen as a Book of the Month Club selection (See eisemancolorblog.com; colorexpert.com).
“Reminiscent of the radiant shadings of a sunset, Tangerine Tango marries the vivaciousness and adrenaline rush of red with the friendliness and warmth of yellow, to form a high-visibility, magnetic hue that emanates heat and energy,” said Eiseman.
Tangerine Tango is a color that has certainly captured the hearts of many thus far. Combine the burst of energy often associated with the color orange and the intrinsic passion flowing from sound of the word “tango”, and Pantone may have found the perfect combination of color and image for the year.
