Your True Colors

Welcome to #ColorFull part 2!

What is Your Personality Type?

Forget Myers-Briggs, HEXACO, & whatever else is trending right now- the only personality type that matters is your Color Personality Type! I found this breakdown in “Color Theory For Dummies” by Eric Hibit, & I absolutely love it. I think this is something he came up with for the book, but I genuinely could not tell you if it exists in other places as well. This is because “color-based personality tests” are so popular on the internet that it is impossible to find a specific one! All of them want to know if you are a “red” personality type, or a “blue-orange” one, but Hibit’s test is different. These CPTs are much more revelatory; people are categorized according to how they view color & think it should be used. Doesn’t that make more sense?

What Are the Different Color Personality Types?

Color Conformists

Color conformists – you guessed it! – comply with the color stereotypes associated with the time, place, & culture they live in. They may, for example, have specific ideas about which babies should wear which colors or when to stop wearing white clothing. If society’s opinion of a color shifts, then a color conformist may begin to follow the new standard (e.g- the “white after Labor Day” rule is pretty outdated) but they will never be an early adopter.

Watercolor of a plump, happy cardinal perched on a bare branch. Red cardinal, brown branch; all is right in the Color Conformists’ world.

Color Outliers

Color outliers recognize the color stereotypes that exist in the time, place, & culture they live in. Unlike color conformists, they enjoy defying those stereotypes. Think Pierce Brosnan & Dwayne Johnson wearing pink to their movie premier, or all the lovely games people play with bridal gowns these days. Watercolor of an adorable blue-purple-pink basilisk, smiling contentedly This basilisk is a terrifying monster in a friendly color palette.

Color Iconoclasts

Color iconoclasts are the exact opposite of color conformists. Color iconoclasts recognize the color stereotypes that exist in the time, place, & culture they live in, & they want to burn it all down! They are radical in the truest sense of the word- they want to challenge color traditions at the root. They defy traditions that insist they must wear a particular color for a vaguely cultural reason. Child Me was certainly a color iconoclast; frequently being forced to wear pink made me question the veracity of any & all color traditions from a very early age!

Color Expressives

Color expressives use color to proclaim something about themselves. Such a person may wear their favorite color all the time, or red when they need to be assertive, or funeral colors to weddings. They may dye their hair a color that they feel suits them better. They may be very specific about how they paint/decorate their homes- relaxing colors in the bedroom, fun ones in the den, somber ones in a workroom… For color expressives, colors are never just a nice thing to look at, but a conscious choice made after deliberate thought.

Stylized watercolor turtle seen from the top down, all in soft greens with indigo on the shell. I want a turtle in my favorite colors & I will not let reality get in my way!

Color Fluid

Color fluid people are neither one thing nor the other—neither fish nor fowl nor good red herring! They combine any/all of the color personality types described above. They also are very flexible; they are more likely to shift & change which aspects of what Color Personality Types they ascribe to over time than anyone who identifies with one single type.

What Is Your Color Personality Type

So, what do you think? Are you an Outlier? An Iconoclast? A more Fluid combination? Have you always felt that way, or has your type shifted over time? I’ve been reading a lot about color theory over the last few months, & I have to say this style of categorization really appeals to me. I’m mostly a Color Expressive, but occasionally a knee jerk Iconoclast. I guess that makes me Color Fluid! What are you?

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Tune in on future Tuesdays to learn more about color!

We’ll be talking about how our ancestors made pigments & what they used them for. We’ll be talking about how we currently make pigments & what we use them for. We’ll be talking about how we physically see color, how we categorize it, & how we organize it. Finally, we’ll be getting down to brass tacks & talking about specific colors! It’s going to be a wild ride.

My 2-week #KWPrompts art challenge is ongoing!

We still have another week of the #IdleHues prompt Check out the #KWPrompts list for more information!

Karin Wanderer Learns