I found a new way to get color ideas from old magazines

Last month, I was stuck on a branding job and couldn't find a good color palette. I remembered a stack of old fashion magazines from the 90s my mom gave me three years ago. I flipped through one and took a photo of a random page with my phone. I used a free color picker app to pull five colors from the photo. The palette I got was way better than anything I found online. Has anyone else tried pulling colors from things that aren't design related?

3 comments

3 Comments

nelson.gavin13d ago

Found that method unreliable for my own work because magazine print colors often fade or shift over time. I get more consistent results pulling colors from digital photos of nature or architecture. The lighting in those situations feels more true to life than decades-old ink on paper.

ryan_black12d ago

You're right, @nelson.gavin, my old magazine method is about as reliable as my color-blind uncle picking paint.

murray.robert12d ago

Look at the faded colors as a feature, not a bug. That shift creates unique, muted tones you can't get from a fresh digital photo. It gives you a palette with built-in history and subtlety that feels more authentic than something perfectly clean.