Improve Your Color Coordination Instantly

I thought up a visual exercise for anyone who thinks they have no talent for figuring out how patterns and colors work together.

If you've ever said to yourself...

"Can a big pattern go with a small one?"

OR

"Do these colors look good with those colors?"

OR

"Help! This is giving me a migraine! How can I tell what goes with what??!"

...then this exercise is for you.
Because it's fun.
It's fast.
And it works.

What to Do:
Scroll through the following photos and follow my directions. That's pretty much it.

Tips:
Keep your eyes relaxed.
Don't worry about absorbing every detail of every photo.
It's okay if it doesn't make sense at first.
It's okay if you feel a little dizzy. It means your brain is working hard.

The main thing is, just keep your eyes relaxed and keep scrolling.

Ready?
Okay.
Go!

1. Take the colors in this photo and turn them into a wallpaper.


2. Now take the colors in this wallpaper and turn them into an abstract.


3. Now take the colors in this abstract and turn them into an illustration.

4. Now take the colors in this illustration and turn them into a really dense painting.

5. Now take the colors in this really dense painting and turn them into a room.

6. Now take the colors in this room and turn them into a picture.

7. Now take the colors in this picture and turn them into a fabric.


8. Now take the colors in this fabric and turn them into a map.

 9. Now take the colors in this map and turn them into a room.

10. Now take the colors in this room and turn them into an abstract pattern.

Congratulations, you did it!!

If this exercise worked for you, I'm about to explain why.

(But if it didn't, don't worry! It usually takes a few tries, so take a minute and then scroll through the photos again. I 99.9% promise you'll soon start to notice a wealth of new relationships between the pictures.)

I'm No Scientist But I Have A Theory Why It Works:

Usually when we try to match patterns and colors, we notice every little detail and wind up getting super-obsessive and OCD about everything. 

I don't think we need to be so literal.

By allowing our eyes to "graze" over the details in an image instead of dissecting them, we can train our brains to see things in a totally new way. Instead of categorizing an image as a room/painting/textile/whatever, we start to process it as a pattern.

And you know, that's all the visual world is, is patterns.
Lots and lots and lots of patterns.

So when we start to look at every image as a pattern, then suddenly we can see that there's a visual relationship between this...

...and this...

...and this.

* * * * * 

Don't forget, my first-ever One Kings Lane Designer Tag Sale starts TONIGHT at 6pm Pacific Standard Time. Be sure to check it out!

x/Lisa

(Editors Note: I am sadly credit-less for these photos. If they are yours, please email me and I'll attribute them asap.)