LibGuides: America@Home: 1900 to Contemporary/HP231: COLOR / DESIGN SOURCES

Color / Design Sources: Web Sites

A Color Story: by Decade
Colors and keywords for decades 1880-2000. From Your Home, Only Better.
Living Room Color Schemes from Benjamin Moore Paints
"Living room styles changed over the decades of the 20th century, shown in the 1970-era living room pictured here, which has brighter and more vibrant walls that the room from the late 1930s, also pictured." Years shown, circa: 1930, 1938, 1948, 1954, 1970, 1988
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"Here are living room color schemes depicted in Benjamin Moore decorating brochures published between 1930 and 1988. The walls in rooms shown in the various brochures got deeper and brighter as the century progressed. Nevertheless, one bit of advice remained constant. It was: "Don't be afraid to use color on your walls!""
HGTV: Decades of Color
Color Palettes Through the Decades
Take a walk back through the decades, and see how color palettes have changed and evolved over the years.

House Beautiful Archive This link opens in a new window
The archive of the US edition of House Beautiful, from its first issue in 1896 to the present.

The oldest still-published US shelter magazine, House Beautiful not only records the history of interior design, but demonstrates how broader social and cultural trends – e.g. women’s roles, family life, new technologies, and consumer behavior – have manifested themselves in domestic settings for over 125 years.
Women's Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
Contains an archive starting in 1883 to 2005 for eleven magazines typically marketed to women, with high-resolution color scans and feature detailed article-level indexing. Titles and specific coverage includes:

- Better Homes & Gardens (1922 - 2005)
- Chatelaine (1928 - 2005)
- Cosmopolitan (1926 - 2004)
- Essence (1970 - 2005)
- Good Housekeeping (1885 - 2005)
- Ladies’ Home Journal (1883 - 2005)
- Parents (1926 - 2005)
- Redbook (1903 - 2005)
- Seventeen (1944 - 2005)
- Women’s Day (1937-2005)
- Women’s International Network News (WIN News) (1975-2005)

Online Trend Services

Doneger Tobe This link opens in a new window
Requires an extra username and password. Login with your FIT username and password first, Use the password listed for Doneger.
Fashion Snoops This link opens in a new window
Users are required to create a MY FS account to use tools & workspace. Use your FIT email address as your username.
Use Mozilla/Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari and Internet Explorer (version 10 and up only - older versions of Internet Explorer are not compatible and will not allow images to display correctly).
Sophicolor This link opens in a new window
A color service with more than 4,500 unique colors. Includes Trend Intelligence with the latest color palettes.
Users are required to create an individual account:
1. Register for an account using link on our Library database page, using your FIT email.
2. In the Company field, enter "FIT," and for job title enter "FIT Student" or "FIT Faculty"
3. You will receive an email from Sophicolor once your account has been approved.
WGSN Fashion This link opens in a new window
Users are required to create an individual WGSN account
To access WGSN:
1. On the "Library Database A to Z List" page (https://www.fitnyc.edu/library/databases/a-to-z.php). select WGSN and login using your FIT username and password.
2. Before you proceed CLICK ON THE "+" sign for directions on how to login.
3. Students must create an account and re-activate their account every 90 days: click on "re-activate account". URL= https://www.wgsn.com/accounts/edu/
Students must create an account and re-activate their account every 90 days: click to create or re-activate account:
https://www-wgsn-com.libproxy.fitsuny.edu/accounts/edu

Locked out of your account for too many incorrect login attempts? Reset your password here:
https://www.wgsn.com/auth/forgotpassword

To access WGSN Fashion

login via the proxy and then with your WGSN username and password
select the part of the site you wish to use from the top menu under "Fashion"
Use an incognito browser to access this resource.Students must create an account and re-activate their account every 90 days: click on re-activate account.
WGSN Interiors This link opens in a new window
Trend reports & forecasting for home products. Users are required to create a WGSN account.
Follow instructions above to create an individual WGSN account.
WGSN Insight This link opens in a new window
Intelligence & research on latest consumer, marketing, retail, and innovation trends.
Users are required to create a WGSN account.
Follow instructions above to create an individual WGSN account.
WindowsWear This link opens in a new window
Contains images, 360 degree panoramas, and descriptions of physical and digital window displays in a real-time, searchable database of community-generated content that provides data on what retail environments look like around the world with coverage from 1931 to present.
1. Visit WindowsWear
2. Click “Join now” on the top right
3. Select "Academic" on the right
4. Under "existing members" select "FIT"
5. Create profile
6. Under "get started" select "student" or "faculty"
7. Use your FIT email and create a password
8. Click "join"
You will need to login to WindowsWear after authenticating via the proxy to use the site.

Books about Color / Design Sources

This is a very broad category of informaton. The suggested sources here might be useful when beginning your research to get a feel for the design and colors of a particular time period. The Library has many titles on decorative arts (fabrics, furniture, etc.), the individual decades of the 20th & 21st centuries, magazines and newspapers from the decades, and much more. Use OneSearch to search for specific subjects.