2013 National Stationery Show – Colors Part I – Tomato Red

Well, I seriously underestimated how long it would take me to: sort through and prep the (hundreds of) pictures I took; organize all the business cards and marketing materials I picked up; and get my mind around how to winnow it all down into a logical series of posts. So, without further ado, heeeeeere’s the National Stationery Show (2013 edition)…

I’ll be covering a variety of themes and common threads in my NSS posts, and I’m jumping right in with colors and palettes, which will take several posts all on their own. Let’s start with one of the brighter colors (future posts will also cover neutrals and combinations of trending colors into vibrant palettes).

Tomato Red

Zesty tomato red was everywhere at the show. It walks the line between a true red and orange, which gives it a sunnier, more casual, and animated feel than hues that fall more squarely in the red family. Here are just a few examples of this happy, sassy red at the show:

Rigel Stuhmiller’s beautiful block-print Strong Man card sings with this color.

I saw a lot of this red used as a festive—and often retro—accent in holiday cards, like these beauties from Fifty Five Hi’s.

Ella Leach Designs’ sweet panda uses the color to create an upbeat and sophisticated, yet still kid-appropriate set of boxed notes.

This shade really is hot-sauce red, and Printerette Press took full advantage of that when they created this wink-worthy greeting card.

Night Owl Paper Good’s happy mermaid combines tomato red with aqua and navy—two other common color themes found at the show, and covered in future posts.

L2 Design Collective used tomato red to set this Scrooge-worthy, gorgeous tree aflame.

The tomato red on Ginko Papers’ adorable little hooded girl treat bags makes them that much more charming.

Power and Light Press adds a wee jolt of shock factor to their cards, and tomato red is the perfect shade to amp things up that much more.

Hello!Lucky’s birthday number cards are all fun; this one’s fun in tomato and true blue.

Tomato red—or siren red, as the case may be—is an appropriate color for this birthday card, from Fresh Frances.

Coming up next: yellow-based greens…

Please note: the image labels I’ve used are not official product names/titles. For more information about any of the products in my posts, please contact the wonderful people who’ve created them.