If you are considering becoming a color consultant, personal stylist or image consultant, you have to make a number of important choices. In this blog, post I want to show you significant differences between some color systems and color palettes.

As a color consultant, you show your client which colors he/she can use for his/her clothes. Clients ask the question “which colors look good on me?” Some people expect that they get one color that looks great, so they never have to doubt again. Well, let’s give them a couple of colors, a color palette…

What are my best colors?

To determine which colors look good on a client, you work as a consultant with color analysis tools, for instance, color drapes or color flags. These are color determination tools. Your client will receive a color palette or card based upon this determination.
What you do as a consultant is classifying your client in the right color type: in one of the 4, 10, 12, 24 or 78 color types. Clients receive a color palette that corresponds to the color type that fits their personal coloring. The colors within a color type apply to everyone who is classified in that color type.

The more color types a method has, the more the colors are tailored to the person’s personal color characteristics and the better the colors match him/her.

Let me show you the differences in the palettes of different systems:

In each example we look at the same women. The only thing that changes is the color analysis system.

Colors with the Four Seasons system

There are four palette options: Spring, Summer, Autumn or Winter type

All four of these ladies are winter types.
They will, therefore, all get the same colors. The other types (spring, summer and autumn type) are not suitable because their colors would be too warm and/or too soft. You might understand that not all colors of the winter type are equally suitable for each of them. There are good colors and less-good colors. As a consultant, you have hardly any possibility to adapt the colors to the differences in personal coloring. You can only talk about this in the explanation of the palette.

Colors with a 10 Color type system

In addition to the four Seasons there are six
intermediate types available.

If you have 10 color groups at your disposal, there is a good chance that you will arrive at a different color type for each of these four women. The variation in colors meets the differences in coloring. For example, the fact that some winter types have a warmer skin tone is taken into account. The color palette is a factory product; the colors are a given. Yet you can clearly see that the differences in color are reflected in the colors of the color palette.

Colors with a 16 Color types system

In this format, there are four variations of each season: light, medium, dark and a contrasting one.

With 16 color groups, as a consultant, you can choose from four different color palettes per season. For light colored women, there is a palette with light colors available, while a darker palette is available for the dark type. The colors in this system also vary with the coloring details of the client. The relationship between the woman and the colors is quite good. For many people this system works really well. Yet for some people this classification is insufficient. Combination types are not sufficiently taken into account. Some winter types have more warmth in their coloring, for example due to their hair color. This sytem is not supporting that very well.

Custom color system

The colors are matched manually to the color features of the person. If there is already a division into types, then the colors within the color palette are further coordinated.

There are several systems that offer customized color palettes:

1. Computer-controlled systems
   The color analysis consists of two parts: determining the season (usually four seasons) and determining the skin, hair and eye color. With this information, a color palette is compiled. The computer is involved in both the analysis phase and the creation of the palette. As a result, the colors in the color palette are highly coordinated with the coloring of the person. If two twin sisters (who look alike) come together for a color analysis, there is a reasonable chance that some of the colors will be different.
2. Manual systems
   As a consultant, you manually put together the color palette for your client. The contrast, the degree of warm and cool, and the energy level and the personality of the client are taken into account. Twin sisters will have similar and different colors in their palettes, showing their differences. To work with such an analysis method, you need to be able to define the coloring features of the person and how to choose the most flattering colors based on these features. The client also has some influence during the process. For example, the consultant can find the best shade of her favorite color.

Training options

As you can see: each system has its own advantages and disadvantages. The fewer color types, the faster you can learn the techniques. However, the four seasons system starts fading out. If I look internationally, then the profession of color advisor moves into the direction of personalization. After all, it is not nice to give someone a set of colors while you know that some of the colors do not really work well for your client.

If you work with groups of people or if you only need a little guidance of the colors for a client, it is sufficient to work with a simple system, for example, with 10 color groups.

Many people nowadays have heard about the four seasons types, and are often happy that there are more options now. With ready-made color palettes your color consultation can be relatively cheap. That may be a reason to opt for a simpler method during your studies.

However, if you want to refine your consultations with a personal touch, it is best to consider training with a customized system right from the beginning. It requires a little more from you to learn a method like that, but once you have mastered it, you have more knowledge about color than many of your colleagues. This in itself helps you stand out.

Color Expert Training

Two systems:

• Seasonal system with 10 color types
  
• Essential Colors system

7 course days within approx. three months:

• Seasonal Color Analysis – 10 color types
  Smart system if you are working with groups, including a web application
• Color theory,  case studies, combining colors
• Choose colors based upon personsl color patterns
• How to use colors with the palette; create flattering color combinations for outfits
• Makeup: the best colors and an easy technique
• Practice at home with case studies and models
• Completion test: work with a live model. If all assignments and the completion test is well done, you receive a certificate

*)  This training includes the original licenced course of The Style Core / Carla Mathis, founder of the Essential system.

The Color Expert Training is a module of the Image Consultant Curriculum

Upcoming course:

3 LIVE dagen, gecombineerd met sessies via Zoom
Start weer in september 2024, data in overleg en op afspraak,