~Color Inspiration~

Photo by Charise Creates

One of my favorite tasks when I was a fashion designer was creating color palettes for the upcoming clothing line I was designing.  When I worked for larger companies such as Norstrom and Eddie Bauer, we had the budget to buy trending forecast services.  These services would provide the actual color in swatch form from large color companies like Pantone.

Digital Ad from Boden.com

The last design company I worked for was a small company and we didn't have the budget for the expensive trending services.  

My go to inspiration came from Fashion websites like Style.com and fashion magazines, my favorites being Elle and Harper's Bazaar.
I looked to the color stories from high end couture brands from the most recent runway shows.

Photo by ChariseCreates

I recently saw a link to the coolest website that will create a color palette using Kona Fabrics solids.
Play-Crafts color matcher  allows you to upload a photo and then the program matches colors in the photo.
If you want to tweak the palette, there are small dots that you can drag and drop around the photo to customize the colors.
Then....Play-crafts color matcher matches the colors to Moda Bella Solids.

Photo by Charise Creates

Have Fun!
Warning:  It is addictive : )

xo
Charise