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 Website review: COLOURlovers
Tallulah Habib
Any designer knows that the choice of colour can make or break a project. This is why COLOURlovers is so useful.Whether you worship the beauty of shades and contrasts, or simply need a specific palette for a particular project, this site can help you.
COLOURLovers describes itself as “a creative community where people from around the world create and share colours, palettes and patterns, discuss the latest trends and explore colorful articles… all in the spirit of love”.
Web developer Johnathan Wagner, of Amoebasys, uses the site often. “COLOURlovers gets me out of tight places all the time. I love it because of the range of features it supplies. You can upload images, etc. and it will create pallets for you.”
The website is simple to navigate. If you are looking for ideas or inspiration, you can browse palettes and patterns ranked by how recently they were uploaded. If you have something more specific in mind, you can do a search. Searches can be very specific… you can even select which colours you want to include and find a palette of other colours that match. If you wish for a more scientific approach, there is the “trends” section, which monitors what colours are currently most popular.
Every colour on the site has a specific name and download options, as well as how to mix it in RGB or HEX. Creating your own palette is simple, too. You can either do so by selecting colours or you can upload a picture and create a colour palette from that. It’s very useful for designing around photos and logos.
As if that wasn’t enough, the site also provides you with a number of colour tools – for example a theme designer – that can be downloaded or bought.
COLOURlovers is the kind of site that can get you hooked. There is an active community where users can seek help from experts, and there are various channels for specialisations such as jewellery or website design. It’s easy to find a niche, and even once your project is completed, you may find yourself coming back to it again and again.
With this site there is no excuse for clashing or cringe-worthy colour combinations in websites, programs or publications. As the saying goes, if you don’t have the eye… borrow someone else’s.
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