Introduction

As an introduction to the brief of analysing a specific brand or style's use of colour, initial research was carried out into a few current brands and designers that have employed colour in an unusual or visually exciting way. As an initial point of research I wanted to explore acidic but warm colours that were attention grabbing so I started by developing a collage of designers' work that matched this criteria. I then applied the theories and deifintions taught in week 2 to the examples to analyse their hue, value and chroma correctly:



Tasty tomato by Costello Tagliapietra
Hue: the tomato colour is tertiary, the result of mixing red (primary) with orange (secondary) to
make an agressuve 'red-orange' hue
Chroma: the tomato colour has a very high level of chroma and so appears vivid and bright
Value: due to the high chroma nature of the colour, it is also medium in value.




Canary cardigan by Melissa Coker
Hue: the cardigan is a primary colour of yellow
Chroma: the levels of chroma are also very high as the hue is extremely bright and pure
Value: due to the high chroma level, the cardigan has medium to slightly lower value. There is also a stark contrast of value between the cardigan itself and the hue of the rest of the outfit, which are made up of a tint and a shade of blue at the two opposite ends of the colour spectrum.





Tutti Fruiti combo by Alexander Wang
Hue: the pink colour is a tertiary tint of 'purple-red', where as the orange sherbet hue is a secondary colour orange, also a tint as it is lighter in appearance than traditional orange.
Chroma: both the jacket and shorts have a medium to slightly higher chroma.
Value: the pink and the orange hues are medium to low value tints, small amounts of white added to the pure colours.



Flower inspired Michael Angel dress
Hue: the sections of both black and white fabric are not classified at as a hue but a neutral, the dress also includes a spectrum of tints of pink (tertiary) and orange-yellow (tertiary), with some shades of blue-green.
Chroma: The levels of chroma varied from high for the bright yellows to low for the pastel pinks
Value: In some parts of the dress such as the blue-green shading the value is high with black added, where as for some parts of the light pinks and yellows, white has been added to tint a higher value colour

Acidic pink dress by Cushnie et Ochs;
Hue: the bright pink is a tertiary colour derived from the blue side of red-purple
Chroma: the chroma is extremely high giving an acidic and almost neon appearance
Value: the pink colour here is a shade of pink with a hint of black added but still medium in value

Colour clash by Jonathan Saunders:
Hue: the bright blue skirt includes a hint of green which compliments the yellow-green hue of the jacket and ties the two together
Chroma: the chroma of both colours is very high as they are vivid and bright
Value: the skirt has a tint of white added to a slightly lower value colour whereas the jacket has a shade of black to a slightly higher value colour.

Tibi bouffant blouse;
Hue: this acidic orange hue is a secondary colour from red and yellow
Chroma: the chroma levels are high as the blouse is very vivid and bright
Value: the blouse has black added to create a medium to high value shade

BCBG Max Azria's floaty colour pop:
Hue: the colour of this dress is a slightly acidic and agressive tertiary red-orange
Chroma: chroma levels are medium to high
Value: the value of the dress is high as black has been added to create a shade of the colour and is a little darker than others

All these examples show how effective use of colour in terms of hue, chroma and value in fashion can secure the attention of the audience. Whether incorporated into a bag or a dress, acidic brights are a good way of getting some "look at me" wow-factor, especially if you can clash well!