Description:

When it comes to talking or writing about colour, it’s common to fall into a number of traps—whether it’s focussing on colour trends or forecasts, or exploring colour theory through an almost academic lens. But what about our relationship with colour? The memories, experiences and feelings associated with the colours we choose to surround ourselves with… where are those stories? This theory is exactly what our client set out to explore with the ‘Lives in Colour’ book.

From our formative early childhood memories, to professional pursuits, to pivotal moments… colour can be a means with which to reveal the most poignant personal tales.

Lives in Colour is a curated compilation of such stories, shared by individuals whose
relationships with colour are as varied as the spectrum itself. Some work with colour — artists, designers, farmers; others live what we call ‘colourful lives’ —unconventional, exotic and eventful; and, for some, colour is a more subtle, incidental but ever-present element.

Their anecdotes offer us an insight into their lives and personalities, their endeavours and
passions, hopes and experiences, and highlight the diversity of human experience. The resulting tapestry of tales illustrates the universality and democratisation of colour — the fact that it touches all of us in vastly different ways.

A deeply collaborative process with the publisher, the Lives in Colour book features a diverse range of people from different backgrounds and industries all revealing their personal relationship with the colour in their world.

Captured through a series of first person style narratives and candid portraits, the book explores the concept of colour through a number of different lenses. The approach to design is one of minimalism—allowing the stories and colours to be the hero of the piece. Complementary palettes were created for each story, adding a burst of design interest to each interview and translating the person’s colour experience into design.

The ultimate purpose of the Lives in Colour book was to explore the intimate relationship between people and colour—irrespective of background, age, ethnicity, occupation and so on. This book both investigated and challenged individual, personal experiences of colour through the lens of shared stories. The book was distributed and recognised amongst each of the people featured and their broader community of followers, influencers and industry leaders in paint and design.