Sanzo Wada was a Japanese artist, teacher, and costume designer who pioneered modern color usage in Japan. This second volume continues his legacy by exploring:
To understand the value of A Dictionary of Color Combinations Vol. 2 , one must look at its creator, Sanzo Wada (1883–1967). Wada was a visionary Japanese artist, fashion designer, and color theorist. During a time of rapid modernization in Japan, he recognized the need to systematically catalog and study color relationships.
Wada was deeply involved in costume and fashion design. The palettes in Volume 2 reflect how fabrics drape and interact under different lighting conditions. Apparel designers can use the seasonal palettes to plan cohesive mood boards for autumn/winter or spring/summer clothing lines. Branding & Identity a dictionary of color combinations vol.2 pdf
In modern reprints and digital formats (PDFs), the inclusion of CMYK and RGB/Hex values is a critical update. While Wada’s original work relied on paint mixing, the modern digitization allows these historical combinations to be instantly applied in web design and digital illustration software.
For modern users, the PDF of Volume 2 serves three primary functions: Sanzo Wada was a Japanese artist, teacher, and
One of the most charming aspects of the series is the attention paid to the language of color. Unlike modern, clinical names like "Pantone 123 C," Wada’s palettes use evocative traditional Japanese color names such as Choushuniro (Cherry Blossom Color), Hanaasagi (Flower Kingfisher), and Umenezu (Plum Root Gray). Volume 2 presents every color name in both Japanese and English, giving the user not just a hex code, but a poetic concept to build upon.
: Contains 233 color combinations in total. Wada was a visionary Japanese artist, fashion designer,
: While Volume 1 focuses on foundational combinations, Volume 2 introduces 72 new color palettes and extends to 165 combinations specifically focused on seasonal themes.
However, we strongly recommend purchasing the official digital edition or buying the physical book and scanning your own reference copy. Not only does this support the preservation of historical design knowledge, but it also guarantees that the colors you see are the colors Wada intended. In design, precision is everything.
Volume 2 organizes palettes into thematic categories inspired by the natural world, traditional Japanese culture, and daily life. You will find combinations explicitly designed to evoke: