What remains of the colours of our childhood? What are our memories of a blue rabbit, a red dress, a yellow bike – and were they really those colours? What colours do we associate with our student years, our first loves, our adult lives? How does colour leave its mark on memory? In an attempt to answer these and other questions, Michel Pastoureau presents us with a journal about colours that covers half a century. Drawing on personal recollections, he retraces the recent history of colours through an exploration of fashion and clothing, everyday objects and practices, emblems and flags, sport, literature, museums and art. This text – playful, poetic, nostalgic – records the life of both the author and his contemporaries. We live in a world increasingly bursting with colour, in which colour remains a focus for memory, a source of delight and, most of all, an invitation to dream.

The first novel, in revised form, from "possibly the best living writer in Britain" (The Daily Telegraph) In The Colour of Memory, six friends plot a nomadic course through their mid-twenties as they scratch out an existence in near-destitute conditions in 1980s South London. They while away their hours drinking cheap beer, landing jobs and quickly squandering them, smoking weed, dodging muggings, listening to Coltrane, finding and losing a facsimile of love, collecting unemployment, and discussing politics in the way of the besotted young—as if they were employed only by the lives they chose. In his vivid evocation of council flats and pubs, of a life lived in the teeth of romantic ideals, Geoff Dyer provides a shockingly relevant snapshot of a different Lost Generation.

About the history of the color black, its various meanings and representations.

Fifteen children's book artists share their favorite colors and explain why they love them.

We perceive color everywhere and on everything that we encounter in daily life. Color science has progressed to the point where a great deal is known about the mechanics, evolution, and development of color vision, but less is known about the relation between color vision and psychology. However, color psychology is now a burgeoning, exciting area and this Handbook provides comprehensive coverage of emerging theory and research. Top scholars in the field provide rigorous overviews of work on color categorization, color symbolism and association, color preference, reciprocal relations between color perception and psychological functioning, and variations and deficiencies in color perception. The Handbook of Color Psychology seeks to facilitate cross-fertilization among researchers, both within and across disciplines and areas of research, and is an essential resource for anyone interested in color psychology in both theoretical and applied areas of study.

Colour permeates contemporary visual and material culture and affects our senses beyond the superficial encounter by infiltrating our perceptions and memories and becoming deeply rooted in thought processes that categorise and divide along culturally constructed lines. Colour exists as a cultural as well as psycho-physical phenomenon and acquires a multitude of meanings within differing historical and cultural contexts. The contributors examine how colour becomes imbued with specific symbolic and material meanings that tint our constructions of race, gender, ideal bodies, the relationship of the self to others and of the self to technology and the built environment. By highlighting the relationship of colour across media and material culture, this volume reveals the complex interplay of cultural connotations, discursive practices and socio-psychological dynamics of colour in an international context.

Internationally renowned textile designer Lori Weitzner presents a novel, layered perspective on the use and significance of color in design and culture in this spectacular treasury illustrated with 225 full-color images. Ode to Color, a stunning anthology by renowned and award-winning textile and wallcovering designer Lori Weitzner, principal of Lori Weitzner Design, Inc., offers an immersive, sensual, and engaging journey in the world of color as it applies to culture, design, mood, and memory. Each of the ten chapters in this richly illustrated volume presents a distinct color world through an intimate and often kaleidoscopic perspective, a compilation of the numerous—and often shifting—associations and emotions we assign to a color or group of colors. Each chapter combines diverse imagery—evocative fine art and photography, environmental interiors, details of Weitzner’s gorgeous designs as well as her sketches and watercolors—with excerpts from literature and her own essays on a wide array of topics relating to the palette. The result is a fully sensory conveyance of each palette’s particular power as well as a consideration of its tangible and intangible connections, from its place in religion, pop culture, and commerce to the impact it has upon our decision making, our moods, and our tastes. While each chapter is unique in its approach to the ten worlds, with its mix of essays, prose and range of art, from a Technicolor Disney cartoon in Out Loud to David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust in Silverlight, each chapter includes: An introductory essay on a subject that characterizes the palette A two-page photographer of an open drawer in Weitzner’s studio that she has arranged with various fabrics, skeins, and objects that, together, comprise the palette; An evocative two-page word collage that presents both color names and the words commonly associated with the palette; Design pointers that provide in-depth insight to working with color and to decorating with each palette throughout the home, from wall treatments to accessories. Spectacular and imaginative, this experiential volume will captivate, inspire, and inform a broad audience, including interior designers and decorators, architects, graphic and fine artists, and anyone interested in art, design, fashion, pop culture, and spiritual discovery. Sumptuous, beautifully designed, and filled with wondrous imagery and compelling stories and facts, it makes an inspiring and unusual gift for almost any occasion.