Colour Now by Kevin McCloud

There is not much to say about Kevin McCloud's new book, Colour Now. It's the last word on colour and all that you need to pull together a colour scheme that has been tried and tested by one of the UK's foremost authorities on colour. All this for £9.99.

Colour Now is the ultimate sourcebook. Kevin may have done this before in Choosing Paint but by distilling the information and palettes further, this is the cure-all for paint and colour scheme dilemmas. It can be used by the homeowner, people in the profession and beyond.  He says that the choice of colour must be informed as it conveys both unspoken and unwritten ideas, conveying powerful messages. And he gives you the tools in this book.

HOW TO USE

Simple to use, Kevin McCloud has taken 120 colours and worked them into 67 palettes to mull over. They are easy on the eye and harmonious. You can use the information by copying an entire palette or by drawing on a smaller group of colours. To make things even easier, every colour in the book is an existing Fired Earth paint.

Interestingly, palettes aren't given names as that can sometimes prejudice people's decisions and ultimate choice. As an example, Palette 24 could easily be called Pansy Pinks but that could certainly put people off. Plaster pink, lilac, primrose and blue are offset against stone or brown, giving a washed out, tonal look. It's definitely a palette that works but as Palette 24 it probably works better.

For those that want to delve further into the theory of colour, there is a concise chapter on how colours relate to each other.

DID YOU KNOW?

An added bonus of the book is the quotes. Did you know that Goethe said ‘Colours are light's suffering and joy.' Manet said ‘Colour is a matter of taste and of sensitivity' and Matisse, ‘A thimbleful of red is redder than a bucketful.'

GROUND-BREAKING

One of the ground-breaking features of the book is that it has been produced using the highly accurate hexachromatic printing process that uses six component colours instead of the more conventional four.

A thoroughly recommended book for any home owner or person who is involved in design of any kind. And ground-breaking too.

Publication details:
Quadrille Publishing
ISBN 1844006999
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