Looking for a new color to spice up your website, logo or brochure? Tired of using primary colors for every project? If so, I’ve recently I’ve discovered two products that might be of interest. Without having access to Adobe products, you might be missing out on the numerous colors available for both print and the Web. Or maybe you have access to Adobe products, but you are looking for a new way to make better color selections. Either way, check out the following items bound to make choosing colors much easier.

Color Schemer
Color Schemer is a professional color-matching application for your Mac or PC. For a nominal fee of $49.99, you can download this application directly to your desktop in order to identify color harmonies for Web or print. Would you rather test drive the product before you buy? No problem! There’s a free 15-day trial available for download.

There are so many features that makes this product appealing. Not only do you have access to pre-made color schemes, but you can also pull colors from photos you have stored on your computer, or start from scratch and build custom color schemes. Even better, once you pick a color palette that you want to try out, Color Schemer gives you the opportunity to preview the palette in various settings including website, blog, print and pattern layouts. Love the color, but worried about readability? There’s a contrast analyzer that will check your text and background color combinations to make sure they’re readable and provide enough contrast.

And if you need to learn even MORE before signing up for a trial, play around with Color Schemer Online (version 2). It’s a free online service that allows you to set an RGB or HEX color and then provides a sample complimentary color palette that you can make lighter or darker based on your tastes. What a fantastic way add a new color to your next online marketing piece – all in a matter of minutes! With all these options, the hard part now is just deciding which palette is the “perfect” color palette…

myPANTONE iPhone Application
I recently purchased an iPhone and I’ve been obsessed with finding new applications to make my life easier. I read about the myPANTONE iPhone (and iTouch) application in Mac Life magazine and decided to try it out. It’s a little more expensive than other iPhone apps, but in my opinion, it’s worth the $9.99 price tag. The myPANTONE application gives you access to the full Pantone Matching System®, including the FASHION & HOME cotton and paper swatch books. The cool thing about this application is you can take it anywhere you go! The Pantone website describes it best when they call it “Portable Color Memory™”

Similar to the Color Schemer application, myPANTONE allows you to capture and extract colors from photos – either by taking a photo with your iPhone camera, or from images previously loaded on your phone. From there you can automatically generate color combinations, or create color palettes that you can share through e-mail, Twitter or Facebook, or through the myPANTONE.com sharing website. See a flower color you’d love to have a dress made out of? Is the sky that “perfect” blue you wanted for that new logo you’re creating? Or maybe you have some time to kill at the DMV and want to decide on a new scheme for your website. With this application you can do this and more – making life on the go more vibrant than ever.

Need help with picking out a fresh color palette for your marketing materials? Throw us a bone! At Good Dog/Bad Dog Creative Design, we’d be happy to chat with you about turning a “flat” color scheme into “fabulous.” Take a look at our Web site for more information on how to give us a shout.

Tags: Color palette, Color Schemer, Color Schemer Online, GDBD Creative Design, GDBD Design, Good Dog/Bad Dog Creative Design, graphic design tips, myPantone iPhone Application, myPantone iTouch application, Pantone Colors, tampa graphic design, tampa website design