With all of the color choices we have available to us to choose from, how do you go about picking the right colors for your designs? Although basically there are only 12 colors in the color wheel, each of those colors has a myriad of different shades and tones. Then, of course, you have color blends which just add to the endless possibilities. If you find yourself stumped about which colors you want to focus on, it may be a good idea to look at some of the current color trends in decorating.
Color Trends 2023
Each year Pantone comes out with their color of the year. For 2023, Pantone’s color is Viva Majenta. However, they also come out with a whole line of colors that are trending in fashion for the season. Here is the lineup of popular colors you will be seeing this Spring in fabrics.
From this list, I chose Pantone’s Beetroot Purple and Empire Yellow to pair up in a collection of Spring patterns for this year. Each of the patterns that I created uses various shades of the two colors. I did also throw in a little of the Viva Magenta on the large flower detail to include the color of the year.
Once you decide on your colors, you can use shade variations of the same color for all your designs in the same collection. Depending on what you are creating your designs for, you may also want to look at paint trends from Benjamin Moore or Sherwin Williams.
Create Designs Using A Common Color Palette
After choosing all of your coordinating colors, it’s time to get designing. I like to use Photoshop for creating patterns and designs and with Photoshop, it’s super easy to match colors. Just save an image of a color swatch that you want to use and open it up in Photoshop. Using the dropper tool, click on the image and you’ll have that color loaded up for your own design. I find that this is the easiest way to match Pantone colors. However, if you are using a swatch from a paint company, there should be a hex code that you can enter for a perfect match.
If you are not familiar with pattern design, make sure to check out my post on creating patterns through Photoshop.
