5 ms·

Color schemes I can feel

124 points by aymeric 15y ago

zalew 15y ago
So, there are colors extracted from a photo. Cool. Now how should I use this colors to have a usable design? Which should be text, link, background? Picking a 5 color scheme you like is easy, making something of it is the hard part.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
- hippich 15y ago
  Exactly my first reaction. But then I looked over this site again, and did not notice "web-" anywhere. And design is not limited to web-design.
  - artursapek 15y ago
    Nor is text and a background
konaaceo 15y ago
Jessica is freaking amazing at colors!! I did a story today about design that made front page of HN (http://news.ycombinator.org/item?id=3467855 http://news.ycombinator.org/item?id=3467855) that referenced her company Design Seeds. Design is all about natural associations and the way she extracts colors from nature and light is maybe the most useful developer tool I have come across, as far as color schemes go.
artursapek 15y ago
Color schemes like this look GREAT next to the photo they're derived from, but don't always translate as well on their own to a website/printout/whatever you're making.
- konaaceo 15y ago
  That is where a great designer comes in play. Space and color are there to support content not replace it. So if used right you can make anything beautiful. The real problem is people don't spend enough time crafting their color scheme and that is where the really issue is.
  - artursapek 15y ago
    Well, all you just said is it takes a good designer to make something beautiful. The real problem is people don't spend enough time crafting their color scheme and that is where the really issue is. I completely disagree. I've never left a website because of its color scheme. There's no issue. This blogger is using a gimmick to please casual passer-bys to her blog: taking pretty photographs and pairing a few well-chosen samples from them with a nice name. These kinds of blogs have bothered me for a while now because I've come to the conclusion that they serve to inspire bored designers by exciting them with this pleasant gimmickry, but never really help past a momentary aesthetic stimulus. I see no actual discussion of substance; process or strategy or how to be this "great designer" you reference. It's a shallow offering. The +50 contrast in her About Me photo speaks for her mission. It's a pretty website, nothing more. Hardly worth praise if you ask me (and I consider myself a designer).
    - konaaceo 15y ago
      What I have said is often people don't take the time to craft a color scheme. There is a difference between someone who understands the art of web experience and the person who is a coder and understands structure. If you think that major brands aren't focused on the color of packaging and web design you are dead wrong...have you ever heard of the advertising industry? The same philosophy and care should be taken into consideration when developing any website or app. Furthermore, it was me that introduced Design Seeds to the HN community yesterday as a great resource in my article http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3467855 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3467855, before aymeric posted a direct link. Jessica is an artist that loves color and is simply giving you a "DESIGN SEED" from which to build not just your website but your life spaces from home interiors, events, weddings and all types of space. It was me that brought her here and she doesn't deserve your comments. You want to criticize, come after me. Additionally she has more than 152,330 followers on Pinterest http://pinterest.com/designseeds http://pinterest.com/designseeds. She is incredibly popular and at last word her site has crashed 5 times since this post. She is not trying to make money from this. And if you were truly a designer you would actually understand.
cemregr 15y ago
This reminds me of this book "An eye for color": http://www.amazon.com/Eye-Color-Olga-Gutierrez-Roza/dp/0061210064 http://www.amazon.com/Eye-Color-Olga-Gutierrez-Roza/dp/00612...
copper 15y ago
Stupid question: wouldn't the ND ("You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work.") part of the license basically mean that you can't use these colour schemes?
- psykotic 15y ago
  IANAL. But I've been told that an abstract color scheme like this isn't covered by IP laws, while a color scheme in a specific context may be considered part of a trademark or trade dress. In either case it would not be covered by copyright, as that license implies. Someone who knows more about this should jump in and elaborate.
- agilebyte 15y ago
  From her FAQ: Design Seeds are meant to inspire, and you may apply the color combinations to your projects, home remodel, or wedding palette. So those three are a go ;)
  - copper 15y ago
    "Your projects" does have a rather wide applicability, I guess :) That said, I'm wondering what a /proper/ license for a colour scheme should be. If it's a css file (or even an emacs theme), that doesn't seem to be so hard to imagine.
aymeric 15y ago
Link that is working: http://www.design-seeds.com/ http://www.design-seeds.com/ http://design-seeds.com/ http://design-seeds.com/ is failing for me now.
- konaaceo 15y ago
  That is because in front of your eyes, HN is blowing a company up. Just talked to Jessica and their servers have already crashed 3 times! Keep pounding her with traffic HN, good on ya! :)
kevinchen 15y ago
Somehow, this website has left Google DNS and AT&T DNS. IP address: http://205.186.154.115/ http://205.186.154.115/
tuananh 15y ago
similar to dribbble's feature.
SonicSoul 15y ago
mmmmm.. edible color schemes... also, color palette extraction tool http://www.degraeve.com/color-palette/ http://www.degraeve.com/color-palette/

124 points by aymeric 15y ago

zalew 15y ago

So, there are colors extracted from a photo. Cool. Now how should I use this colors to have a usable design? Which should be text, link, background? Picking a 5 color scheme you like is easy, making something of it is the hard part.

deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
hippich 15y ago
Exactly my first reaction. But then I looked over this site again, and did not notice "web-" anywhere. And design is not limited to web-design.
- artursapek 15y ago
  Nor is text and a background

konaaceo 15y ago

Jessica is freaking amazing at colors!! I did a story today about design that made front page of HN (http://news.ycombinator.org/item?id=3467855 http://news.ycombinator.org/item?id=3467855) that referenced her company Design Seeds. Design is all about natural associations and the way she extracts colors from nature and light is maybe the most useful developer tool I have come across, as far as color schemes go.

artursapek 15y ago

Color schemes like this look GREAT next to the photo they're derived from, but don't always translate as well on their own to a website/printout/whatever you're making.

konaaceo 15y ago
That is where a great designer comes in play. Space and color are there to support content not replace it. So if used right you can make anything beautiful. The real problem is people don't spend enough time crafting their color scheme and that is where the really issue is.
- artursapek 15y ago
  Well, all you just said is it takes a good designer to make something beautiful. The real problem is people don't spend enough time crafting their color scheme and that is where the really issue is. I completely disagree. I've never left a website because of its color scheme. There's no issue. This blogger is using a gimmick to please casual passer-bys to her blog: taking pretty photographs and pairing a few well-chosen samples from them with a nice name. These kinds of blogs have bothered me for a while now because I've come to the conclusion that they serve to inspire bored designers by exciting them with this pleasant gimmickry, but never really help past a momentary aesthetic stimulus. I see no actual discussion of substance; process or strategy or how to be this "great designer" you reference. It's a shallow offering. The +50 contrast in her About Me photo speaks for her mission. It's a pretty website, nothing more. Hardly worth praise if you ask me (and I consider myself a designer).
  - konaaceo 15y ago
    What I have said is often people don't take the time to craft a color scheme. There is a difference between someone who understands the art of web experience and the person who is a coder and understands structure. If you think that major brands aren't focused on the color of packaging and web design you are dead wrong...have you ever heard of the advertising industry? The same philosophy and care should be taken into consideration when developing any website or app. Furthermore, it was me that introduced Design Seeds to the HN community yesterday as a great resource in my article http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3467855 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3467855, before aymeric posted a direct link. Jessica is an artist that loves color and is simply giving you a "DESIGN SEED" from which to build not just your website but your life spaces from home interiors, events, weddings and all types of space. It was me that brought her here and she doesn't deserve your comments. You want to criticize, come after me. Additionally she has more than 152,330 followers on Pinterest http://pinterest.com/designseeds http://pinterest.com/designseeds. She is incredibly popular and at last word her site has crashed 5 times since this post. She is not trying to make money from this. And if you were truly a designer you would actually understand.

cemregr 15y ago

This reminds me of this book "An eye for color": http://www.amazon.com/Eye-Color-Olga-Gutierrez-Roza/dp/0061210064 http://www.amazon.com/Eye-Color-Olga-Gutierrez-Roza/dp/00612...

copper 15y ago

Stupid question: wouldn't the ND ("You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work.") part of the license basically mean that you can't use these colour schemes?

psykotic 15y ago
IANAL. But I've been told that an abstract color scheme like this isn't covered by IP laws, while a color scheme in a specific context may be considered part of a trademark or trade dress. In either case it would not be covered by copyright, as that license implies. Someone who knows more about this should jump in and elaborate.
agilebyte 15y ago
From her FAQ: Design Seeds are meant to inspire, and you may apply the color combinations to your projects, home remodel, or wedding palette. So those three are a go ;)
- copper 15y ago
  "Your projects" does have a rather wide applicability, I guess :) That said, I'm wondering what a /proper/ license for a colour scheme should be. If it's a css file (or even an emacs theme), that doesn't seem to be so hard to imagine.

aymeric 15y ago

Link that is working: http://www.design-seeds.com/ http://www.design-seeds.com/ http://design-seeds.com/ http://design-seeds.com/ is failing for me now.

konaaceo 15y ago
That is because in front of your eyes, HN is blowing a company up. Just talked to Jessica and their servers have already crashed 3 times! Keep pounding her with traffic HN, good on ya! :)

kevinchen 15y ago

Somehow, this website has left Google DNS and AT&T DNS. IP address: http://205.186.154.115/ http://205.186.154.115/

tuananh 15y ago

similar to dribbble's feature.

SonicSoul 15y ago

mmmmm.. edible color schemes... also, color palette extraction tool http://www.degraeve.com/color-palette/ http://www.degraeve.com/color-palette/