Do You Color Coordinate?

[vossad01]

When working with stationary, I have generally feel compelled to make an effort at made the effort to then choose an ink that matches.

 

 

 

Does anyone else coordinate their ink choices?

[Wheatflower]

I do. It's another reason for me always to have one pen filled with black, for those cards that nothing else I currently have in pen will go with.

[ac12]

I sometimes do, depending on how I feel.

[Lou Erickson]

I make a point to pick colors that will have enough contrast to be readable. Orange on cream is lousy, and I don't want make a friend read something hard. I often have a light color and a dark color inked, a black, blue-black or blue. Those work on most things.

[janeblundellart]

I coordinate the ink in the pen - blue pen=blue ink, silver pen=grey ink etc a lot of the time. In cards I tend to use whatever seems right for the person or occasion...or the paper!

[mirosc]

Yes.

What's the point in having put a lot of time, energy and money into getting a personalized stationery (embossing, copperplate/steel engraving) when I don't invest that tiny little amount of time to pick the right pen/ink?

[Sandy1]

Hi,

 

I make an effort to get a good ink+paper combo. Even amongst the 'White' papers there are many base-tints to choose from.

 

If I'm using a paper with a strong base-tint, let's say greater than Ivory or Powder Blue, I really need to get my ducks in a row. Very often I purchase such paper a few sheets at a time with a specific document in mind.

 

I certainly agree with Member Lou Erickson about the need for readability, yet if the letter is brief or if I want it to be read slowly, then I give lower importance to ease of reading, yet readability can be increased by using wider nibs and working with the size of writing and row spacing. (Then again, with my handwriting that's likely moot.)

 

With most FP inks being dye-based, very often the hue of the base-tint is added to the hue of the ink to some degree. To compensate for that I do a fair bit of sampling. Sometimes the pairing seems odd, such as Visconti Purple on G Lalo VdF Blue, but the results are attractive. ... Other times it is a challenge: Due to an error filling an order, I ended-up with a few pads of Green paper (of all things.) Beautiful paper, but not of a hue I'd previously used. I paired that paper with slightly diluted Sailor sei-boku. I also tried some Grey inks, mostly Noodler's Lexington & Herbin Gris Nuage until MB Einstein arrived, which is very neutral in hue with great shading. ... And then there's the combo of Canary Yellow paper with R&K Solferino - that's for my 'screaming' letters.

 

Bye,

S1

[Princeps Anglorum]

Yes. I try to choose a colour which goes well with whatever I am writing upon or contrasts strongly if I am highlighting or annotating. One of the organisations with which I am involved has different coloured paper for the minutes of each of its committees..

[Riayain]

Nope. I don't colour coordinate ink with my pens. Neither do I match paper colour to ink colour. But I use nothing but white or slightly ivory-coloured paper anyway and all of my inks are highly saturated, fairly dark, and therefore quite legible on most paper.

[Bookman]

I do pay attention to color coordination, but I go with my gut on all things aesthetic, and color coordination is only part of a larger, more general aesthetic assessment, heavily-influenced by mood and, in specific cases, circumscribed by the predilections of my correspondent: an assessment that involves the look and feel of the paper, the width of the ink line, my preference du jour concerning nib type (round vs. italic), among other things. It always comes down to the combination, doesn't it?—pen, ink, and paper—and in the end I go with my gut answer to this general question: Which one is best? One quick look at the writing on the paper, and then yea or nay. I try to put as little thought as possible into this evaluation.

 

I usually start by choosing the paper, usually an ivory-colored paper, followed by the pen and lastly the ink.

Edited November 10, 2014 by Bookman

[drv1913]

Yes. When I write letters or send cards, I try to coordinate everything inside and out, from the ink to the stamp on the envelope. I like to think that the recipients notice and appreciate the little extra touches.

[vossad01]

I'm glad I am not the only one that spends time on this. I am remiss that I did not ask for pictures, but then again, most of this is probably personal correspondence that you would not post on the Internet. Oh well.

[cellmatrix]

The nice thing is that every ink color goes well with white paper

[Gilberto Castaneda]

I try to coordinate ink color with my shirt color.

[dothgrin]

If the pen has a deep color, then I tend to lean towards colors that match the pen. I am a little OCD, and thus I have a hard time if a pen and its ink are too far apart in color.

[amberleadavis]

I admit it, I sign in Cape Cod Cranberry because my logo is hot pink and dark green. It is over the top and I get compliments. I sign in dark green when I want to be more sedate.

[pharmboycu]

Interestingly, I just ordered a red, black, and green (already have the blue) Noodler's Ink Ahab for just that purpose! Prior to switching to fountain pens almost exclusively (except at home where I use dip pens), I used the old Bic 4 color pens. I found a four pen holder and decided it would be a little like the days of using that 4 color pen.

 

Now I just have to settle on the right red and green inks for me.

 

John

[amberleadavis]

Welcome aboard. And good luck with finding only ONE of each of those colors that works for you.

[Arkanabar]

I like the idea of coordinating ink to pen; hence, my Jade Ahab got the Diamine Sherwood; my blue M400 gets mix blue, my Dad's black "51" only ever gets black, and if I ever get a bottle of Diamine Grape, it'll go into my burgundy PFM II, and if I decide I must also have a bluer purple, or a purplish blue, that'll go into my lapis-colored touchdown Sheaffer Imperial. Odds are that my Medieval Lapis Ahab will get either Waterman Florida blue, or any new deep blue or blue-black that I get any time soon.

 

On the other hand, at work HOD goes into a burgundy Hero 616, so I don't mistake it for my Dad's "51", and my blue marbled M200 has been filled with Noodler's Red-Black for years (except for one fill), and I've filled my Mandarin Yellow Ahab with Waterman Violet and Red-Black.

 

I'm super cheap. I use two kinds of paper -- the back of 20lb 88 brightness GP copy paper from Wal-Mart, and wide-ruled 70 sheet Norcom spiral bound notebooks that I got at Wal-Mart for $0.10-0.17 each during back-to-school. So coordinating ink with stationery doesn't really happen.

[77kath]

I coordinate ink to pen so I can remember vaguely what color I'm writing with.