Book of the Month – May

A Dictionary of Color Combinations – Sanzo Wada (Original Artist)
Found by Nick Plant

The original 6-volume work ‘Haishoku Soukan’ (The complete collection of colour combinations), from which this book is derived, was published from 1933 to 1934. The book is a collection of 348 colour combinations compiled by Sanzo Wada (1883–1967), a Japanese artist, costume designer and fashion designer who, in a time of increasingly avant-garde use of colour, was quick to focus on its importance and laid the foundation for contemporary colour research.

As well as giving each colour poetic names like Hay’s Russet, Indian Lake and Ochraceous Salmon the book lists the CMYK breakdowns so it’s also an extremely useful design tool.

If you’re interested in what an Ochraceous Salmon looks like you’ll need C4 M40 Y42 K0.