The King of Color
If you know me, you know I love color. Color is the backbone of any good design—a unified color palette keeps a space cohesive and distinct, and the emotional character of the colors in that palette absolutely define the ultimate mood and feel the space will have. When we work together on a design plan at Woodside Home, color is often one of the first places we start. What wall color offers the right base for your design? What colors do you want to see in your home—your living room, your kitchen, your bedroom? What feel do you want each space to have, and how can color be a part of determining that feel?
Color is also one of the first ways we begin to define our aesthetic preferences—those grade school days of picking favorite colors and, sometimes, sticking with them like a diehard. When we begin to understand what colors we like, it opens up the world of our unique tastes and styles, little markers of how we think about ourselves and the aesthetic world we want to inhabit. This, too, is a beautiful facet of color—it’s a form of communicative choice, of self-expression, a thing that tells other people about what we enjoy, and lets us understand others a little better.
There is, of course, one color authority to rule them all, and that is Pantone. For those who don’t know, Pantone is a color specialist, an authority on color and color matching that is respected worldwide. They developed a system for matching and defining colors that is used not only in interior design, but in art, graphic design, fashion design, printing, and a bevy of other industries. Each year since 2000, Pantone puts out a color that they believe defines the aesthetic trends of the year to come (the color for 2026 is Cloud Dancer).
In the spirit of embracing color, today I thought I’d just take a minute to recommend to you all a documentary on the Pantone system and its inventor: The King of Color.
The King of Color is a biographical documentary on Larry Herbert, who invented the Pantone color matching system—with historical footage, interviews, and a beautiful attention to the details and process of color, this documentary tells Larry Herbert’s story, and the story of the Pantone system. It’s a great watch, full of rich information about color and about how Pantone works with color and their color system. I highly recommend it!
While you’re watching The King of Color, you may find yourself inspired to inject a little color into your home. When that happens, shoot me an email! I’d love to talk color, and design, for your next home project.
The King of Color is a great way to spent a little part of your day learning about the Pantone color system. I hope you enjoy it!
(More info on The King of Color is available at https://picturehouse.com/thekingofcolor/.)