Foundational Aesthetics: Color

As I've found out since I embraced my inner design nerd, my biggest visual driving force is color.

I've always found it hard to categorize my design sense, mostly because it's so eclectic. I love clean lines, and I also love interesting textures; I love colors and colorblocking and contemporary & classic prints; I love elements of vintage style, and I love fresh interpretations of sartorial tropes.

I hate to use such a dull word as "interesting" to describe it, but I think that might be the best one. I like things which contain interest: in color pairing or pattern; in texture or construction. But there is also a balance struck between interest and the negative space around it: it's not merely the detail that is compelling, but the foundation which allows it to be so.

No matter the overall design, color is the final and most important piece of that puzzle. When I conceptualize a garment, its color is built into its DNA: where simplification or retooling of a design element has become a natural part of my process, color choice is much more inflexible. Just as restrictive design specifications can actually encourage creativity, I find that color restrictions allow me to fully explore a design by setting visual and conceptual boundaries and letting my ideas bounce around within them.

Now, if that isn't a justification for a large and lovely multicolored yarn stash, I don't know what is.

<3

Cory