The end of the year has proven to be surprisingly busy … hence the lack of updates. But don’t fret!! With the onset of 2010 days away, we have a lot planned for the upcoming year.

In completely unrelated news, Pantone has announced Turquoise as the 2010 color of the year! Combining the calming effects of blue with the stimulating color of green, turquoise relates to ourselves as well as others making it a “friendly” color. People select this color to appear amiable and approachable with a hint of sophistication. Turquoise is most often used to market things related to water (ie. the ocean and tropical holidays). The retro connotations also associated with turquoise make this color versatile.

We here at agar like to set the trends and so, in an effort to be trend setters, we would like to announce that our color of the year is also turqoise. For much of the same reasons at pantone, we believe that turqoise is the new black until you put on a black shirt.

]]> http://sybawrite.wordpress.com/2009/12/24/christmas-pantone/ Thu, 24 Dec 2009 19:32:58 +0000 juliobesq http://sybawrite.wordpress.com/2009/12/24/christmas-pantone/

As you may know I’m a big fan of Mark Graf’s blog:  “Graf Nature Photography | Notes from the woods” .

Every year he does a Pantone Colour Of The Year post (I loved his Mimosa post last year). Well this year the colour is turquoise. A colour dear to my heart as an underwater photographer. Check out his post here. We all need a bit of tropical cheer in this snowy weather so here is a few turquoise images from me

As the year draws to a close, we’re looking forward to the New Year. Here at mydeco we are very excited to hear that the colour gurus at Pantone have announced turquoise as the shade for 2010. In keeping with next season’s love of all things exotic, turquoise reminds us of exciting travels and adventures in a far-off land – something we could all do with. If, like us, you’re not in a position to nip to the Maldives to get a turquoise fix, you can instantly update your home with a colourful turquoise addition.

This moodboard by our community member Tweety blends turquoise with citrus greens for a fresh, springtime look. If you want to try before you buy, why not have a go at creating your own moodboard?

Let us know what you think of the new turquoise trend…

The Mixtape of May

Mixed by: Cryda Luv’
Genre: French House

Tracklist:

1. Radio Intro – Cryda Luv’
2. Where is my Woman [2009 Live Mix] – Cryda Luv’
3. Spell of Love – Rico the Wizard
4. Music Box – The Buffalo Bunch
5. Seems so far – Sebastian Leger
6. Seduction – Tysaun Alexanderic
7. Revolution 909vs909vs909 [DJ Puipui Remix] – Daft Punk
8. Visitors – Rapid Sound
9. Womanizer – Leonardus
10. Keep on Singing [Skingz Remix] – Belgian Beer
11. Yeah Baby – Milas
12. Rendez Vous – Askine
13. The Turkish Avenger – Sedat
14. Bizoux – Cryda Luv’

Download:

http://www.zshare.net/audio/59442549c3f01a21/

_________________________________________________________________________________

The June Mixtape

Mixed by: Cryda Luv’
Genre: French House

Tracklist:

1. Back to 80’s Intro – Cryda Luv’
2. Music Sounds better with You [DJ Puipui 2009 Remix] – Stardust
3. Big City Night vs. Stardust [Live Edit] – Thony Ritz
4. Me & Her – Louis la Roché
5. Regulate [Fafa Monteco Remix] – Demon
6. You can’t hide from your Bud – DJ Sneak
7. Tonight [Original mix] – Dynamic Rockers
8. Spell of Love [DJ Sneak Remix] – Rico the Wizard
9. People in da Disco [Original Mix] – DJ Puipui
10. Milf Paradise – Jean Moustache
11. House Vertigo Music [Puipui Bootleg] – Eddie Amador vs. Alan Braxe
12. Hands on Me – Sebago
13. No Sleep [Original Mix] – Le Babar
14. Feel the Rocket – Coeur d’Amour
15. Last Wave [Re-Edit] – Fred Falke
16. The Perfect Form [Original Mix] – Cryda Luv’

Download:

http://www.zshare.net/audio/60799345eba06c8d/

_________________________________________________________________________________

Mixtape of July

Mixed by: Cryda Luv’
Genre: French House

Tracklist:

1. Intro – Cryda Luv’
2. Bourgie Bourgie [Joe Claussell's Classic Remix] – Ashford & Simpson
3. My Venus – Cryda Luv’
4. What U Gonna Do Baby – Funk Legacy
5. Buffalo Club – The Buffalo Bunch
6. Happy Go Lucky – Pantone
7. Rapsody – Sebastien Leger
8. Burnin’ [Slam Remix] – Daft Punk
9. Spaced Out II – Play Paul
10. Heart of love – Coeur d’Amour
11. All Alone [Bootleg by Cryda Luv'] – The Lipsyncs vs Modjo
12. With You – The Disko Starz vs. Coeur D’amour
13. Sunshine Hotel – Louis la Roché
14. We Need Sun [Allen Walker Remix] – Cryda Luv’
15. Ain’t No Sunshine – Michael Jackson

Download:

http://www.zshare.net/audio/6214647778c0ad3e/

_________________________________________________________________________________

Da Mixtape of August

Mixed by: Cryda Luv’
Genre: French House

Tracklist:

1. Intro Radio – Cryda Luv’
2. Ich Rock [Cryda Luv' 2009 Club Mix] – Bob Sinclar
3. Da red knight – Sedat
4. Bassline – Richard Grey
5. Rocky XIII [Mylo Remix vs. Ryskee] – Aloud
6. Sing Sing – Cryda Luv’
7. The motion – Duck Sauce
8. No Homo’s garden – The Disko Starz
9. Give me some Love – N’Joy
10. High together – Siriusmo
11. Forever – Axel le Baron
12. All over my Face – DJ Sneak
13. Moondancer – The Phantom’s Revenge
14. All night long – Mike 303
15. Amoureuse – Hana Yori Kichou Na

Download:

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?mjihwmkimrt

Pantone is out with their Spring 2010 color forcast.  This is a big file, a lot bigger than the previous fashion forcast reports, by several pages.

I love to browse the pages to see what the designers come up with.

Turquoise appears to be the big story.  We’ll see turquoise in quite a lot of items this Spring.  That is always a goofy color for some people and I know it’s not always my first or best choice.

Like the previous reports, print out the colors page, put it into your purse and reference it when you are out shopping for material.  Or better yet, shop your stash and come up with your own SWAP for Spring.

Here is the link

or the file Pantone-FCR-sp2010f

and below is the color page.

Pantone Unveils Color of the Year for 2010: PANTONE 15-5519 Turquoise

For my color nerds out there with their color wheels in their desk drawers, Pantone, THE authority on color announced that Turquoise is the new Black:

Turquoise Transports Us to an Exciting, Tropical Paradise While Offering a Sense of Protection and Healing in Stressful Times

CARLSTADT, N.J., Dec. 8, 2009 –Pantone LLC, an X-Rite company (NASDAQ: XRIT), and the global authority on color and provider of professional color standards for the design industries, today announced PANTONE® 15-5519 Turquoise, an inviting, luminous hue, as the color of the year for 2010. Combining the serene qualities of blue and the invigorating aspects of green, Turquoise evokes thoughts of soothing, tropical waters and a languorous, effective escape from the everyday troubles of the world, while at the same time restoring our sense of wellbeing.

Thanks PisforProps!

You would think, in a world where we can broadcast messages instantaneously to computer virtually anywhere on the planet, that we could figure out a way to remotely proof PMS colors, but proofing these colors has been a problem since the first printing company decided to print in a color other than black.  Well maybe not that long, but as long as we’ve made Pantone Matching System (PMS) color choices available to print customers.  The PMS system was originally intended to take the guess-work out of printing in color, but now that we work with vendors and clients all over the world, it has become quite a bit more difficult.  (There are many color matching systems other than Pantone, but the issues are the same for all of them, so I’ll just focus on the PMS system, which is the most common in the US). 

If we all use the same standards and we all mix ink colors using the same PMS defined formulas the color should be the same, every time, Right?  And someone in Portland could confidently communicate with a designer in Boston or San Fransisco about a PMS colors and know they were both looking at the same color on their computers? Right? 

Wrong!

So what’s the problem?  Let’s jump back in time, to when people talked to each other face to face and transacted business that way, when customers met with printers and looked at paper samples and ink colors in a physical PMS book, and discussed all the details of the print job.  When business was transacted in this manner the print buyer would see the color of ink in the PMS book and determine if it would be the right color for her/his printing project.

Now let’s get into this century, when people transact business over the internet.  They create and transmit art via the web, email specs, quantities, due dates, bindery instructions, etc. and receive PDF proofs uploaded to their computers and that is the problem.  Color on your computer is luminescent color.  More specifically, it’s pixels of Red/Green/Blue light, and what is going on in your computer is not the same as what is going on in someone elses.  It’s like looking at the bank of  TV screens at Best Buy.  The colors are all over the place even though all the TVs are displaying the same content.

To further complicate the issue, Red/Green/Blue rendering of many PMS colors can be quite inaccurate so the image being displayed on your computer did not even start out being a good representation of the desired color specified in the art  regardless of how calibrated your computer display may be.

The alternative to an electronic proof is to send a physical printed proof, but anything short of an actual press proof created with the use of printers ink is equally problematic.  Good quality color proofs are still made up of  Cyan/Magenta/Yellow/Black (CMYK) toner dots. 

Again the problem of correctly rendering a PMS color in CMYK is as limited as rendering it in RGB.  Furthermore, a printed proof is still dependent on the quality and calibration of each proofing printer, and finally, toner and ink are as dissimilar as light and ink.   

Imagine taking the cushion from your couch to Home Depot and asking the clerk to mix a quart of paint that is the exact color of your couch.  The cushion is colorized with textile dyes, and the paint gets its tonal variety from a completely different set of pigments.  Even if you knew exactly what textile dyes created the color of the couch it would be still be impossible to exactly match that color using paint pigments.  In the same way, luminescent color, toner, and ink colors all have their own unique properties and expecting them to perfectly match each other is as unlikely as matching the paint to the couch.

Therefore, the usefulness of either an electronic proof or a printed laser proof to represent PMS colors is very unreliable.  The only reliable alternative is an ink draw down.  It is made by using printers ink, in a modified printing press, and for best results it should be done on the actual paper you intend to use in your final printed product because the color, texture and finish of the paper you use can effect the final color of the ink.  In is translucent and the color of the paper will show through the ink.  (Blue ink on a bright yellow sheet of paper will appear to be green).

An ink draw down is not often requested however,  because they take a few days to create and they add cost to your project, but they are the most accurate representation of a PMS color.   If color is critical to your project build a little more time and budget into the project and ask your printer to provide one of each PMS color used in your project.

The only other thing you can do rather than request an ink draw down is to purchase your own PMS books, (if you have never seen a PMS book, the picture on the top of this blog is of a portion of one type of PMS book).  If you’re responsible for many designs and color precision is part of your job, having your own PMS books will save you time and money, but  be careful where you go to get these books.  When I first got into the printing business, I went into a store that handles art supplies and books in general, and asked a salesperson where to find PMS books.  The young man, stopped in his tracks,  looked a little embarrassed, and directed me to the self-help books for women, on the other side of the store.   I turned a few shades of red and sheepishly explained I was looking for the color matching tools.  To avoid this embarrassment, ask for the Pantone Matching System or  better yet, just buy one on-line  direct form Pantone at the address below.

http://www.pantone.com/pages/products/product.aspx?pid=870&ca=1

If you venture into our art department here at Lifeguard Press … you’ll see visions of Pantone Matching Books floating around. It is amazing how many different shades of pink and turquoise and green and yellow there are! We have most of them memorized by heart and can almost quote them all of to you in a code that will bedazzle most. If you are looking outside your window today and have the winter blues - our color swatches from 2010 are sure to make things sunny and cheery! Here is a sneak preview of the colors of the Lifeguard Press Spring 2010 product line.

Our  Lilly Pulitzer® stationery and gift collection include the fun and whimsical pinks and greens (of course!). This spring there will be splashes of yellows and blues too!

And, our newest addition of  Jonathan Adler stationery and gifts are introducing colors that are bold, modern and playful … which will include colorful patterns of blues, greens, reds, oranges and yellows!

Hopefully these colors will give you something to look forward to when the cold weather is gone. (We’re thinking about making our computer wallpaper these fun and festive swatches!)  Watch out for these colorful products coming soon!

Pantone Unveils Color of the Year for 2010: PANTONE 15-5519 Turquoise

Turquoise Transports Us to an Exciting, Tropical Paradise While Offering a Sense of Protection and Healing in Stressful Times

CARLSTADT, N.J., Dec. 8, 2009 –Pantone LLC, an X-Rite company (NASDAQ: XRIT), and the global authority on color and provider of professional color standards for the design industries, today announced PANTONE® 15-5519 Turquoise, an inviting, luminous hue, as the color of the year for 2010. Combining the serene qualities of blue and the invigorating aspects of green, Turquoise evokes thoughts of soothing, tropical waters and a languorous, effective escape from the everyday troubles of the world, while at the same time restoring our sense of wellbeing.

“In many cultures, Turquoise occupies a very special position in the world of color,” explains Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute®. “It is believed to be a protective talisman, a color of deep compassion and healing, and a color of faith and truth, inspired by water and sky. Through years of color word-association studies, we also find that Turquoise represents an escape to many – taking them to a tropical paradise that is pleasant and inviting, even if only a fantasy.”

Whether envisioned as a tranquil ocean surrounding a tropical island or a protective stone warding off evil spirits, Turquoise is a color that most people respond to positively. It is universally flattering, has appeal for men and women, and translates easily to fashion and interiors. With both warm and cool undertones, Turquoise pairs nicely with any other color in the spectrum. Turquoise adds a splash of excitement to neutrals and browns, complements reds and pinks, creates a classic maritime look with deep blues, livens up all other greens, and is especially trend-setting with yellow-greens.

In fashion, Turquoise makes a statement that can look elegant and dressy in fine silk and gemstones, or casual and fun in cotton and athletic apparel. Because of its versatility, Turquoise is a great accent color in jewelry, purses, shoes, hair accessories and even nail polish for women, and ties, shirts and sportswear for men.

For brides wanting a flattering choice for attendant apparel and accessories on their big day, Turquoise is now one of the nearly 200 PANTONE WEDDING Colors available from Dessy, a leading manufacturer of bridesmaid, social occasion and flower girl dresses, as well as destination wedding gowns under the labels Dessy Collection, After Six, Alfred Sung, Lela Rose Bridesmaid and Sandals Destination Wedding Dresses. PANTONE WEDDING exclusively from Dessy provides a collection of color tools to make it easy for brides to achieve perfectly color-coordinated weddings – from inspiration to “I do.”

Additionally, Turquoise is one of 3,000 colors available in Pantone’s line of superior-quality, eco-friendly paint. PANTONE Paints combine the accuracy of PANTONE Colors with the beauty of high-performance Dutch paints. Perfect for a powder room or bedroom, Turquoise is an evocative, spa-like hue that adds an undertone of warmth and excitement to any cool space. In the kitchen, Turquoise adds a unique flare to tabletop and appliances.

From: http://www.pantone.com/pages/MYP_mypantone/mypInfo.aspx?ca=75&pg=20706

Subscribe to The Wonderland by Email

Wait, don’t paint those walls just yet. Hold off on the new bed linens. It’s getting cold in DC and I find my thoughts wandering off to warmer vistas with turquoise waters. So shoud you. Right here at home. Pantone has just named its 2010 color of the year! The global authority on color and provider of professional color standards for the design industries, selected the luminous color Turquoise based on its juxtaposition of tranquil blue notes and energizing green tones. Way to go Pantone 15-5519 TCX and Pantone 15-5519 TCX. In the essence of color therapy, the color house says that the hue should evoke soothing, serene emotions, while restoring vigor, zest, and motivation. Its motivating enough for me. Wonderful against saffron yellow, deep begonia pinks glossy black, and the whitest of whites, this color never fails to please.

Just in time for Christmas! Hooray!

Twiggy*Twiggy Blythe pull rings are now being stocked at My Little Customs

I am really very, very impressed with the quality of these Blythe pull rings – I may have to nab some for my girls!

I have the full Pantone and Jelly Candy ranges in stock – stop by and take a peek!  Blythe Pull Ring Page

Robin x

Most company branding have specific PMS or Pantone Matching System colors that ensure a client that wherever the logo is printed the colors will stay consistent. For example our company pantone is PMS 186.

To give you a little history of how Pantone was founded, I’ll take you back to the year of 1962 when Pantone was just a small company that manufactured color cards for cosmetics companies. Then a man named Lawrence Herbert bought the company in 1963 and revolutionized the color matching industry. Colors were for the first time standardized in the reproduction system so that different manufacturers in different locations could use the Pantone system to make sure colors match without having to contact one another. Some PMS colors can be reproduced using the CMYK process, however, Pantone has created 1,114 spot colors that can only be mixed using their 15 base pigments along with fluorescents and metallics.

One of the major misconceptions that clients have is that if their branding uses a specific PMS color then we should be able to match all the colors throughout their printed material. Pantone colors only work for offset printing, because plates are created for each CMYK color and if a Pantone spot color is involved then a separate plate will be made.

each plate transfers ink onto the paper using rollers for an offset printer

Nowadays, most print material is produced digitally which changes everything, including PMS colors, to process and no plates are involved. Printing digitally is often cheaper, takes less time to set up, and has shorter turnaround times so most clients opt. for that method, especially in our industry when we often don’t get approvals until days before the meeting. However, unless the logo can be converted to CMYK, I would suggest going with offset so that your branding matches all the print material. Another thing to keep in mind is that office inkjet and laser printers do not print Pantone, because like digital it will convert all PMS colors to CMYK.

Originally posted by Mark Sinclair on the creative review blog, click here to check out some rather psychological info on the actual colour itself and for some comments that other people have made! Mentioned as mimosa (which is just a fancier name for turquoise, but for some reason it sounds nice, just rolls of your tongue, now say it with me mi-mo-sa.) Anyway this colour is also known as 15-5519 from the pantone collection. According to pantone the guru’s of colour this is going to be the colour of 2010 and we’re going to see it everywhere. How true will it be? Only time will tell. Personally i don’t detest the colour but i’m not crazy about it either, meh all i can say is at least it’s got some green in it lol (if you can’t tell i quite like green but not the horrible dark bottle green a nice light limish green…ahhh…so nice. Anyway just thought i would do a wee post about this, will be interesting to see next year what happens. Let me know what you think. Mimosa yay or nay for 2010?

It might not quite be the new living room paint color you’ve been looking for. But it’s hard not to love this cool hue that, according to one of the most respected color authorities, will be pretty hot next year.

Turquoise, or color number 15-5519, was recently decreed 2010 color of the year by Pantone. Chosen for its blend of tranquil blue  and energizing green tones, turquoise is a popular hue in color therapy. It’s said to evoke soothing, serene emotions, while restoring vigor, zest, and motivation. Sounds good to me… we could use a little more of all that these days.

“In many cultures, Turquoise occupies a very special position in the world of color,” says Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute. “It is believed to be a protective talisman, a color of deep compassion and healing, and a color of faith and truth, inspired by water and sky. Through years of color word-association studies, we also find that Turquoise represents an escape to many—taking them to a tropical paradise that is pleasant and inviting, even if only a fantasy.”

Pantone insists turquoise is a universally flattering color that blends warm and cool undertones…. and plays nice with neutrals, reds, deep blues, greens, and yellows, making it “exceptionally easy to translate to fashion and interiors”.

Can’t speak for fashion, but for interiors, I’m thinking toss pillows and small accents at best. At any rate, turqouise is awfully fun to look at.  I’m already feeling more serene…  and motivated!  Can’t decide if I should take a nap or go chop some firewood…

Ok folks. Calm down. I know you all have been eagerly awaiting Pantone’s color of 2010 announcement before you went off redecorating the living room. No? Pantone? Well anyway. Goodbye Mimosa. Hello Turquoise. So now you know.

“Turquoise Transports Us to an Exciting, Tropical Paradise While Offering a Sense of Protection and Healing in Stressful Times.”

According to Creative Review’s blog, Turquoise is going to be the hot colour of 2010 (wow its weird typing 2.0.1.0…. eek as if it was decade since the millennium! I feel old!). Anyway… whether it be interiors, digital or fashion I think we’ll be seeing a lot of this beautiful shade in the next year. So here’s a pantone reference for you dorks like me out there; 15-5519 TCX

Giles, Kenzo & Giambattista Valli were doing on the S/S 2010 catwalks too. (Images Style.com)

Pantone has just announced that Turquoise  is the official Pantone color of 2010. In their press release they state

“In many cultures, Turquoise occupies a very special position in the world of color,” explains Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute®. “It is believed to be a protective talisman, a color of deep compassion and healing, and a color of faith and truth, inspired by water and sky. Through years of color word-association studies, we also find that Turquoise represents an escape to many – taking them to a tropical paradise that is pleasant and inviting, even if only a fantasy.”

2010 = better than 2009

For the last few years Pantone has been selecting its colour of the year at around this time. This year the colour of the year was mimosa (that’s yellow to you and me) and next year the colour of the year will be turquoise.

See http://www.pantone.com/pages/pantone/pantone.aspx?pg=20706&ca=10

Periwinkle is PISSED, y’all!

The pigment police over at Pantone passed on ol’ Peri, turned up their noses to Teal, gave the color cold shoulder to Cerulean and unloaded a truckload of hell naw to Navy when choosing the ultimate shade of super significance for all the year 2010:

Turquoise.

And the competition wasn’t even close.

Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, says there was no runner-up to turquoise in her mind because people are craving escapism and freshness after the butfuckingly tough year we’ve endured.
::: Flamingo Pink is pouting :::

“The shade is on the cusp of blue and green, which makes it both inviting and serene — characteristics associated with blues — and invigorating and luminous, which comes from green,” she explained.
::: Blue Green is all HELLLOOOOOO BITCHES?! :::

“Turquoise is universally appealing,” said Jane Schoenborn, design director at Lilly Pulitzer. “It puts everyone in the same state of mind — on vacation.”
::: Aquamarine is NOT amused :::

Pantone’s color for 2009 was Mimosa Yellow [don't act like you didn't know that] because it was going to be a time of economic uncertainty [HAHAHA - ya think?!] and political change [thank gawd!] — so a universal sense of optimism, enlightenment and imagination was going to be nothing short of super duper crucial and Pantone felt the Mimmzer was the best qualified color of the bunch to counteract this New Great Depression™.
::: Canary Yellow couldn’t have cared less but Lazer Lemon found the entire enterprise laughable :::

But all that’s behind us now that my boyfriend has audaciously hopified everyone to infinity!
Pantone predicts John Q Public is ready to plan a little vakay with his new bff Turquoise …
… until next year when he finds out that while he was on holiday his finances failed, his dog died and his job dried up … and we learn that only Neon Carrot or Vivid Tangerine can turn that mess around!