Seeing Red: Color, Emotion and Meaning

When you reach for that amazing red Hester van Eeghen handbag, or your favorite red sheath dress, what are you saying the the world? What does the color red say about you and what emotional influence does it exert?

The Hester van Eeghen Klipper Handbag in Red

Red is an emotionally intense color. It is recognized as a physical stimulant that can enhance your metabolism, increase your heart rate (I know that Klipper bag makes my heart race--love it!) and speed your respiration. Red increases enthusiasm, stimulates energy and encourages action and confidence.*

Red is definitely a power color. It says to the world "I am strong and confident. I am here."  And it's an incredible pop of color with a neutral ensemble, including grey, camel, winter white and brown. A red handbag or shoes with neutrals is like wearing an exclamation point!

People tend to associate red with two diametrically opposed concepts: love and aggression. You can see where the positive attributes of stimulation and energy can be overdone and perceived as negative. Used wisely, red is powerful. But since we are fast approaching Valentine's Day, let's celebrate red as a symbol of love and passion!

A Study in Red: Hester van Eeghen Handbags, Wallets and Briefcases featuring the color Red**

How do you feel about red? How does red make you feel? Do you reach for it often? Is it your signature color? Or do you prefer not to make such a strong statement? I'd love to hear from you.

-Debby


*There are many sources for this type of information, but here are two of the best I found: Color Wheel Pro and sensationalcolor.com
**Be sure to zip right to Hester's red bags using the very cool color navigation bar on www.HVEUS.com!

What Do Colors Say About You?

Color is one of the most important elements in Hester van Eeghen's creations. Color is often the first design element to arrive and the first to evoke a response.


Color quickly sets a tone that can range from formal to playful. It can subtly coordinate or be as obvious as a spotlight. And above all else, color can reveal your personality and affect the reactions of others.


I have been asking a question of people who follow me on Twitter (@hveus): 

"what color best reflects your mood right now?"

Responses to my twitter question about color

The question and how people have responded to it is interesting and kind of tricky. Does the color you "feel" like have any relevance to your preferences, or does color actually evoke or reflect mood? Perhaps it is a little of both. Some people were quite literal about feeling red because they were in love, or blue because they were sad it was a Monday. Others seemed to interpret the question more intuitively and could not assign a clear reason why. Fascinating...


In the next several posts I am going to explore colors and their meaning more deeply, and of course showcase wonderful Hester van Eeghen bags.


And if you really want to try something "out there" regarding color and personality, try this interesting color and personality quiz I stumbled upon. 


What color best reflects your mood right now?


I am looking forward to your answers - Debby

Let Color Be Your Guide

“Color is my energy source.” 

- Hester van Eeghen

Color is one of Hester van Eeghen's Five Essential Elements in her designs. From the way she boldly expresses her designs with a dynamic palette, to the juxtaposition of the unexpected hues, to the bursts of intensity inside her bags, Hester van Eeghen is a master with color.


So it only made sense to introduce a new navigational feature on the HVE US online boutique - the Color Bar! 

To use it, simply mouse over the color of interest, which then displays the name of the color over an enlarged segment of that color. When you click on a color segment, the displayed products scroll horizontally to show the first item in that class of color. The active color segment is always larger and has the name of the color displayed. 


The scrolling is fairly subtle if you select an adjacent color, but if you select yellow while viewing red you get a very rapid slide through all of the products in the current category. You can still use the arrows on either side to scroll to neighboring pages, but the color bar gives you the ability to hone in a one particular color very quickly. If there is a gap in the color bar, it won't do anything on mouse-over; that's because there are no products available in that color.


I love seeing it speed through the pages to the colors all the way at the end.  And I also like shopping by color since it is such a primary consideration--and it is so important to Hester.

 

You may wonder why HVEUS.com isn't laid out like a catalog like other websites. Well, having a side-scroll through products is fairly unusual, but it is something that you see on high-end designer brand sites. It is different and a little quirky, but that reflects Hester's sensibilities as much as anything. 


The intent was to present you with a limited number of items at any one time, allowing you to focus your attention and enjoy the design of the objects. By focusing on only a select few products at once, we are able to present those items in a more sophisticated way than you typically can with a traditional catalog view, revealing additional information only when you want it and not cluttering your screen with it when you don't. 


For instance, on mouse-over of a product you get a zoomed-in view of the product and information about it - and sometimes you even get a little surprise, like a profile shot or an opened bag. And Hester likes surprises.


Go ahead, have fun shopping with the Color Bar and let us know how you like it!