A Dictionary of Color Combinations distils Sanzo Wada's landmark 1930s six-volume colour research into a single portable reference — 348 combinations that remain as visually compelling today as when they were first developed.
About This Book
Sanzo Wada worked at the intersection of traditional Japanese aesthetics and Western avant-garde influence, developing colour combinations that helped lay the groundwork for contemporary colour theory. This book condenses his original six-volume series into 348 distinct colour combinations, presented with the same sensuous attention to design that characterises the work itself. For designers, artists, and anyone working with colour in a serious capacity, it functions simultaneously as a historical document and a living reference tool — a rare combination in colour research publishing. The compact format makes it as useful on a desk as in a studio bag.
Key Features
- 256 pages of curated colour combination swatches drawn from Wada's original research
- 348 individual colour combinations spanning traditional and Western-influenced palettes
- Published by Seigensha
What You'll Discover
- How a Japanese artist and costume designer in the 1930s synthesised traditional and Western colour thinking into a systematic reference
- 348 colour combinations spanning a range of moods, temperatures, and cultural registers
- The historical foundations of contemporary colour combination research and practice
- A working palette resource that bridges Wada's early twentieth-century context with current design application
About the Author
Sanzo Wada (1883–1967) was a Japanese artist, teacher, and designer of costumes and kimonos who worked during a formative period in avant-garde Japanese art and cinema. He was instrumental in synthesising traditional Japanese colour sensibility with Western influence, producing colour research that anticipated the concerns of contemporary colour theory.
Specifications
- Format: Paperback
- Pages: 256
- Dimensions: 115 x 105 mm
- Language: English
- ISBN: 9784861522475
- Publisher: Seigensha
- Publication Date: [Details available upon request]
Perfect For: Graphic designers, textile and fashion designers, artists, and design students working with colour — and anyone seeking a historically grounded colour combination reference.