Why I Hate Burgundy

Colours... the foundation of our world. Who would think it's so complex? Designers know better!

One of the first things you learn in life are colours. "What colour is this circle?... red", "what colour is this square?... that's right, blue!"

But the range of different colours is exponential. And the name that you call a certain colour depends on your experience, teachers, and geographical area in the world you grew up in. Not only that, but men and women see colours differently. Their eyes are actually built differently. And you throw in various intensities of colour-blindness, and all of a sudden a simple subject isn't simple anymore.

So, when a client asks me to try out the colour burgundy, I have to overcome my urge to puke burgundy chunks into the toilet. What's burgundy to one, may be maroon to another, may be red to another, may be pooh brown to another. It's a very difficult colour to pin down and reach consensus on.

Web Colours vs. Print Colours

Colours, for design purposes, have all been assigned a number value. This insures you have the EXACT colour. However, printed colours use a CMYK value and web colours use a HEX value. I'll spare you the boring details! So, when you want to take your web/monitor colour and have it printed, you have to either convert it to CMYK, or actually colour match with your eyes.

Graphic designers and professional printers have CMYK books showcasing all of the colours you can choose for your print job. What you may have to do is hold up the colour book to your monitor and pick the printed colours by hand.

Insist on a Proof

This is a very good reason to insist on printing a proof of your business cards (or whatever you are getting printed) before printing off an entire batch and realizing the colours aren't correct.

Think Again!

So, next time you think about colours - especially if you are in the middle of choosing your branding colours, think twice before settling on burgundy :)