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Fascinating 19th Century Color Manual Gets Turned Into An Inspiration Site
By Mikelle Leow, 11 Sep 2018

Screenshot via Nicholas Rougeux
If you’re in awe of how scholars of the past observed color, here’s another intriguing look at the history of hues.
Designer and “data geek” Nicholas Rougeux has converted the 1821 Werner’s Nomenclature of Colours guidebook—written by Abraham Gottlob Werner and Patrick Syme—into an online archive for easy perusal.
Since the book isn’t copyrighted, Rougeux decided to optimize it for today’s creatives.
“I created this project to enhance Werner’s Nomenclature of Colours by adding information that I wanted when I read the guidebook like easily jumping to any color, seeing the colors referenced in the description, and seeing photos of what Werner referenced for his descriptions of each color.”
The site is categorized into master colors, with 110 swatches that are accompanied with photographic references of the flora and fauna they’re based on. You can check out the impressive tool here.

Screenshot via Nicholas Rougeux

Screenshot via Nicholas Rougeux
[via Nicholas Rougeux]
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