Recently I have been thrown into being an interior designer for a few new personal projects. Now, I have no formal training. I definitely know what I like and don’t like. And I am very quick to judge based on intuition. In looking at colors for the new house, I am strongly drawn to purple and yellow combination. That seems rich, bright, happy and soothing. So, I did some research – because that is what I do to help support my decisions in business and personal circumstances – on the purple and yellow combination. Here is what I found:
The Color Wheel Affirms the Intuition
Take a look-see at purple on the color-wheel. See how it is directly opposite of the location of yellow on the color-wheel? The experts purport that because purple + yellow are opposite on the color-wheel, they are contrasting colors, and that they are technically called “complementary colors.” So, color theory is not totally new because I have studied it a bit for art direction on marketing projects. However, I “heard” this more clearly because I need it today. The colors that are contrasting also happen to be “complementary,” and pleasing to the eye. Great! The house will be pleasing not only to me but others! Super!
Don’t Reinvent the Wheel. Ask “How Would Nature Solve This?”
I went to TED to see if there was anyone else out there looking to nature to solve design issues. I found this amazing woman, Janine Benyus, a self proclaimed nature nerd. Her concept of biomimicry has galvanized scientists, architects, designers and engineers into exploring new ways in which nature’s successes can inspire humanity. Check out her video it is pretty cool. These are some of my favorite quotes from Janine:
“We live in a competent universe. We are part of a brilliant planet. We are surrounded by genius…take design advice from it…If you ever forget this remember this. This is what happens every year. This is what keeps its promise. While we are doing bail outs this is what is happening…Spring. Imagine designing spring. Imagine that orchestration…this happens every year.”
Well, my little interior design project is no where near the scope of spring, but I did think about all the purple and yellow combinations that I have found pleasing in nature. The first thing that popped into my mind was the orchid. This process reminded me that for any work project, I can look to nature for guidance. Here is my inspiration.What’s yours?
