Please give some examples of two-color combinations that have definite associations for you. Could be in the abstract, in graphic design, housepainting, clothing, or anything.
Scarlet with gray - As far back in childhood as I can remember, this was a depressing color scheme for me, I don’t know what caused the association.
Indigo with magenta - or either of these with purple - I find weirdly alluring. I like how the juxtaposition of these colors makes them seem to glow almost like black light or like bougainvilleas under the tropical sunlight.
Black and pink - I can never see this without thinking of Good ‘n’ Plenty.
Blue and orange: Lucille Ball, or Howard Johnson’s. Blue and gold: My grade school and high school sports uniforms.
In fact, a lot of color combinations remind me of sports teams.
Green and brown. My kitchen has hardwood floors, which are a beautiful, warm brown color and the kitchen walls are a forest green color. Makes for a very cozy room. We spend more time in there than we do the living room, which is a deep blue and ‘storm cloud grey’ color scheme.
As I was writing that, I looked up at my bookshelf. On the shelves where my feminist books are, I saw Celtic Women (indigo cover) leaning on Womanwords (purple). On the shelf below that I saw Feminism & Islam (indigo) next to What Every American Should Know About Women’s History (purple). Some say that purple is the lesbian color. I don’t know whether that’s because of Alice Walker’s book The Color Purple, or did it predate that book?
Black with purple - elegant style. I wear mostly black, and purple is my favorite color accent for it. Any jewel tones involving some sort of red or blue are good for me too.
Pink with purple - this brings up two different associations from my Catholic childhood in the late 1960s. One is the Advent wreath, the other is psychedelic swirly or paisely minidresses and poster graphics that so often combined pink with purple.
Alarming sort of orange = my scary Housing Association. ( And sometimes some very worrisome people who get madly concerned about the north of Ireland as well).
I have a screaming orange bathroom with turquoise and muted yellow trim/accents. It took a bit of getting used to, but now I just love it. My house is very dark (old farmhouse nestled in the woods) so whenever I decorate, I go for bright or light colors. Otherwise I’d have to just kill myself.
When I see purple and green together, I think of my sister. She used to have a memorable purple and green bathing suit. She might still have it, for all I know.
