February The month of "Red" also The Heart Month

A great article!! 
By Jacci Howard Bear,
 About.com Guide    http://desktoppub.about.com/cs/colorselection/p/red.htm


Love and War:

Red is hot. It's a strong color that conjures up a range of seemingly conflicting emotions from passionate love to violence and warfare. Red is Cupid and the Devil.

Nature of Red:

A stimulant, red is the hottest of the warm colors. Studies show that red can have a physical effect, increasing the rate of respiration and raising blood pressure.

The expression seeing red indicates anger and may stem not only from the stimulus of the color but from the natural flush (redness) of the cheeks, a physical reaction to anger, increased blood pressure, or physical exertion.


Culture of Red:

Red is power, hence the red power tie for business people and the red carpet for celebrities and VIPs (very important people).

Flashing red lights denote danger or emergency. Stop signs and stop lights are red to get the drivers' attention and alert them to the dangers of the intersection.

In some cultures, red denotes purity, joy, and celebration. Red is the color of happiness and prosperity in China and may be used to attract good luck.
Red is often the color worn by brides in the East while it is the color of mourning in South Africa. In Russia the Bolsheviks used a red flag when they overthrew the Tsar, thus red became associated with communism. Many national flags use red. The red Ruby is the traditional Fortieth Wedding Anniversary gift.

Using Red:

Use the color red to grab attention and to get people to take action. Use red when you don't want to sink into the background. Use red to suggest speed combined with confidence and perhaps even a dash of danger. A little bit of red goes a long way. Small doses can often be more effective than large amounts of this strong color. Multiple shades of red and even pink or orange can combine for a cheerful palette.

Look at the use of the Color Red on the Web to find which of the named colors in the red family are the most attention-grabbing, mysterious, friendly, sophisticated, or mentally stimulating.
Using Red with Other Colors:

Although not normally considered an ideal coupling, in combination with green, red is a Christmas color — a joyful season.

Cool blues provide contrast and tone down the heat of red. Light pinks and yellows are harmonizing colors that can work well with red if not too close in value such as dark red with a pale or golden yellow. Be careful using purple. It can be an elegant combination but too much could be overpowering.
Add a dash of red to a soft but sophisticated pink and gray combo. For some countries, including the US, red, white, and blue is a very patriotic trio even if the shades of red and blue differ from those used in the flag.

Red Color Palettes:

These color palettes feature shades of red used with a variety of yellows, blues, greens, and neutrals.

Using Red in Other Design Fields:

•Feng Shui Use of the Color Red

Language of Red:

The use of red in familiar phrases can help a designer see how their color of choice might be perceived by others — both the positive and negative aspects.

Good red
•Red letter day - important or significant occasion

•Red carpet treatment - make someone feel special, treat them as if they are a celebrity

•Roll out the red carpet - same as above

•Red sky in the morning, sailor's warning; red sky at night, sailor's delight - pay attention to good and bad warning signs

•Paint the town red - celebrate, go out partying

•Red eye - an overnight flight


Bad red
•Seeing red - to be angry

•Red herring - something that deceives or distracts attention from the truth

•In the red - being overdrawn at the bank or losing money

•Red flag - denotes danger, warning, or an impending battle

Red Words: These words are synonymous with red or represent various shades of the color red.
Scarlet, crimson, vermillion, carmine, maroon, burgundy, ruby, rose, madder, rouge, brick, blood red, blush, fire engine red, cinnabar, russet, rust, Venetian red, flame, Indian red, tomato.

A Conversation About Color

The Conversation

The other day a vocalist, Ruby from my husband’s band was over my house for a rehearsal.

Ruby is a beautiful Indian woman who was wearing the most stunning blue sweater with a sparkling iridescent necklace that seemed to pick up a blue hue from her sweater.

When the vocal rehearsal was over, I had the opportunity to sit and chat with her in my blue and white country kitchen. She looked like she belonged in my kitchen amongst all my blue and white china teacups and teapots.

I was very taken with the particular blue color since it was my very favorite shade of blue during my childhood. I shared with her my memory of opening the box of 64 Crayola crayons always reaching for the peacock blue crayon before my siblings could ever use it and colored everything with it...

We discussed also, how this particular shade of blue is HER color. Every person has particular colors that work best for their skin tone, hair coloring and a lot of times the favorite color is NOT the right color for the person’s needs. So I was indeed complimenting her on her choice of color as well as the Right choice of color for HER.

My husband became involved with the conversation. It seemed he wanted to validate my color assessment by stating that he reveres me as a color expert.  My career early on was Assistant to the head buyer of textiles for Evan Picone . I had to be accurate with my color selections for the linings of their garments.

So the conversation evolved and Ruby began explaining about the piece of glimmering rock that adorned her neck. She told us that it was cut from a  piece of a rock that was reported to have had an image of the Blessed Mother mysteriously imprinted on it. She likes to wear it with that shade of blue because it seems to radiate a calypso of blues making it even more beautiful a piece.

Ruby then asked my husband and me what OUR favorite colors are. She explained that this is one of the questions she uses in the assessment of people while performing her occupation as a “Black Belt” and no not “Karate”. It is a Human Resources position that she explained to us.

We answered the color questions and she assessed our answers. This color conversation percolated in my mind for several days now because of her evaluations of MY favorite color presently and from my past.

My question to my readers is “What is your favorite Color and Why”.
  Please leave a Comment or Email  me:  katiesheadesign@gmail.com

My answer to the favorite color question was presently Green.  Prior to Green it was Blue, and prior to Blue it was Purple.

Ruby then asked me what each color reminded me of.


My Favorite Colors, Present and Past


Green - My Irish heritage, the outdoors, the scent of fresh cut grass, the rolling hills of the Irish countryside.

A Bible verse:
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not be in want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,    Psalm 23 1:2


Blue- Monet, French cuisine, dining on fine blue bone china, tranquility, the ocean waves low tide.

Purple- The passion of Christ, spring flowers, spring coats with white gloves as a little girl with my sister, colored Easter eggs, new beginnings,Van Gogh.

These three colors were my favorites at different times of my life.  I have analyzed the color choices a bit further for my own documentation and study.

I would love to hear from my readers!!

Katie D