Inspiration through Experiences & Experimentation
SeaWorld’s SeaFire Inn was transformed into an exotic and colorful composition from the Polynesian heritage for the evening. The combination of visual and musical stimulation made us feel a real connection to the Polynesian culture and the surrounding islands.
A particular aspect that excited me about this event, was the cultural conservation of symbolism and identity throughout the generations. The meaning behind their tattoos, masks, feathers, flowers, fabrics, and colors, is so carefully passed down, demonstrating a great respect for tradition. Textile patterns have always been inspiring to me, as well as color theory. Experiencing this event triggered an idea for performing a little experiment.
By using an iPhone app called ColorStream and the camera on my phone, the quest for new color palettes became less time consuming and rather effective. I decided to stop by the closest fabric store and sift though textile samples to use for my investigation. The ColorStream app allows you to create color palettes by pulling the most predominant colors from a picture taken with your phone, or from an existing picture in your library. Then, you can adjust and save these colors with hexadecimal codes which becomes a time saver when conceptualizing for future designs.
Here are a few examples of color palettes I saved while experimenting with this application, but using a digital camera works just as well:
Feel free to use these if you find them fitting within your next design project and please share the results with us. I strongly recommend you trying this yourself. There are a ton of other tools out there to play with, you just have to experiment and figure out what works best with your work flow.
Remember that ideas come from anywhere, if we listen closely to the clues. Keep your eyes wide open and look at every experience as an opportunity for creative growth.
Posted by DaissyLinares on Oct. 13, 2010
