Some Fun and Useful Color Websites

(hover over the title to go to each link)

His & Hers Colors - Popular Color Names by Gender Preference — Did you know that "some kind of green" is a 65% male color? Or that Magenta tips in at 51% male? This amazing data visualization chart tracks His and Hers Colors by analyzing preferences by color name. Predictably, "dusty pink rose" is 99% female, while "gobelin green" is the most popular male color name at 93%.

 The Psychology of Colors — This is a short infographic that gives some solid recommendations about what colors to choose for various rooms and the psychology behind these choices. Even if you end up in a different place with the colors you chuoose, this can be a useful place to begin.

 Can a Paint Job Change a Neighborhood? — A Philadelphia neighborhood group called Philly Painting is trying to improve neighborhood cohesiveness through large-scale, community involved mural projects. Inspiring!!

Official Pantone Color of 2013 — I'm not sure if I'm buying it, but Gizmodo reports that the "official" color of 2013 is Pantone 17-5641Emerald. I dunno, it looks like "some kind of green" to me (see above). Nevertheless, Pantone is one of the major arbiters of color across a huge swath of industrial production. From print advertising, to textile colors, to the shade of the molded plastics in kid's toys, Pantone is one of the key players.

Colour Lovers I find this site most usseful for designing web pages and for print applications, but it is a really fun place to browse around for inspiration, and it can definitely be a useful place to start in terms of refining the kinds of colors you feel attracted to. You can look for specific kinds of colors, or just browse among the thousands of palettes created by users and contributors to the site. There's lots to Love here.  

Color Munki ColorIQ Challenge — It turns out that men and women really do see color differently. Take this Color Challenge to test your visual acuity. You'll be asked to sort a series of graded shades from one focal color through a transition to another. It's hard but kind of fun.

A. Boogert's amazing 1692 book on watercolor Technique.