As designers, we can never have “too much” of a color inspiration. Here are a few tools/sites that can aid in the pursuit of the perfect color combination! As you will come to see, each of these sites has a particularly strong point; a powerful tool that works exceptionally well for a specific need. And using a combination of them should give you the right resource for any situation when you find yourself lacking in color inspiration.
Adobe Kuler
This is one of the leading free web-based apps for color palette creation. With this tool, you can browse color themes that have already been created, view and store your own creations and upload images to extract color schemes from. It has several interactive and intuitive tools to build color themes, as well as modify existing ones and search, share and rate other designers’ themes within the Kuler community. One of the most convenient features of this app is that it integrates with Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop (CS6 and CC).
New & Best Feature: You can now grab color on the go through Kuler’s free app for the iPhone. It pulls colors from your surroundings and extracts a series of colors, which enables you to use it on your design program like Photoshop CS6 & CC as an extension!
異 [异] yì
noun
: different; strange; separate
Kun Reading
け ke
Na-adjective
: unusual; extraordinary
こと koto
Noun | No-adjective
: difference (from one another); different thing; other; (Na-adjective) unusual; extraordinary
ことなる kotonaru
Godan verb with ru ending | intransitive verb
: to differ; to vary; to disagree
On Reading
い i
noun
: difference (of opinion)
冒 mào
verb
: to cover the eyes; act rashly; to fool/defraud
: to emit; to give off; to send out (or up, forth); brave; bold; to cover; to act under false pretenses
Kun Reading
おかす okasu
godan verb with su ending | transitive verb
: to brave; to risk; to face; to venture;
: to harm; to afflict; to affect;
: to desecrate; to profane;
: to assume (someone else’s surname); to take
On Reading
ぼう bou
冒とく | ぼうとく boutoku
noun | +suru verb
: blasphemy; curse; profanity; sacrilege; desecration
Here comes the “readable type” of print! (Unlike san serif fonts, which are the choice for legibility on the web). Serifed fonts (also known as the “Roman” typeface) are widely used for body text because they are considered easier to read than sans-serif fonts in print (not a scientific study).
下 xià
verb | measurement word
: down; downwards; below; lower
: later; next (week etc); second (of two parts)
: to decline; to go down; bring down
: to arrive at (a decision, conclusion etc)
: measure word to show the frequency of an action
: inferior
Kun Reading
下 | した shita
noun
: below; down; under; younger (e.g. daughter)
: bottom
: beneath; underneath
: just after; right after
: inferiority; one’s inferior (i.e. one’s junior)
: trade-in
: preliminary; preparatory
下 | もと moto
adverb
: under (esp. influence or guidance)
下 | しも shimo
noun
: lower reaches (of a river)
: bottom; lower part
: lower half (of the body, esp. the privates); feces; urine; menses
: end; far from the imperial palace (i.e. far from Kyoto, esp. of western Japan)
: (No-adjective) dirty (e.g. dirty jokes, etc.)
下り | くだり kudari
noun | noun suffix
: down-train (going away from Tokyo)
: down-slope; downward going
下さい | ください kudasai
expression
: (Usually written using kana alone) (Honorific or respectful language) please give me
: (after te-form of a verb or a noun prefixed with o- or go-) please do for me
下げる | さげる sageru
ichidan verb | transitive verb
: to hang; to lower; to move back; to wear; to dismiss; to grant
On Reading
下 | か ka
suffix
: under (being in said condition or environment)
下 | げ ge
noun
: lowness (of degree, value, etc.); inferiority
: second volume (of two); third volume (of three)
