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Digitalizing natural dye colors
NAURAL COLORS IN THE DIGITAL AGE
Natural Colors in the Digital Age
According to Cath Sleeman’s 2020 research at the Science Museum Group Collection, modern designs are increasingly monochromatic, only using a small part of more than 16,000 colors stored in digital systems. From this contrast, VAN•HOA, as a creative studio, poses a question: As this monochrome trend has been reigning with the industrial revolution, Is there still room for natural colors in the design world?
The Trend of Natural Fabric Dyeing in Vietnam
As a tropical monsoon country, Vietnam enjoys a vibrant natural ecosystem that the Vietnamese benefit greatly from. The local people have developed a lifestyle closely connected with nature, particularly in the practices of natural fabric weaving and dyeing.
Nowadays, as the sustainable lifestyle and Vietnamese handcrafted fabrics gain more support from mass, the trend of natural fabric dyeing is gradually making a comeback from new business and preservation groups. Even data on natural fabric dyeing is being refined through the research of the younger generations, notably Nguyễn Đức Huy, the founder of the Đông Phong - a Vietnamese traditional restoration clothing brand. In this collaboration with Đông Phong, VAN•HOA aims to preserve the colors of Vietnam's natural dyes through a digital color palette system based on naturally dyed fabrics from Đông Phong.
About Đông Phong and the Digitalization of Natural Dye Color Data
Mr. Nguyễn Đức Huy - the founder of Đông Phong
Huy's archive book
Originating from the question 'Who am I? How is my culture different from other cultures?' while studying in Germany, Nguyễn Đức Huy, the founder of Đông Phong clothing brand, began his passion for ancient clothing. After returning to Vietnam and spending time learning indigo dyeing in Sapa, Huy started practicing natural dyeing to pursue a sustainable lifestyle and utilize naturally dyed fabrics in making Vietnamese ancient clothing, aiming to replicate the old colors that once presented in Vietnamese history while steering Đông Phong's products away from fast fashion.
Over time, Đức Huy has built a data system for his naturally dyed fabric samples in physical form, accompanied by detailed notes and fabric dyeing formulas after numerous studies.
Wishing to spread the research values of Huy and Đông Phong, as well as increase diversity in the applications of this color palette, VAN•HOA proposed and was agreed to digitalize and systematize Đông Phong's naturally dyed fabrics data.
Natural Fabric Dyeing Process
Coloring Materials
The natural dyes at Đông Phong are created from various plants and insects from nature. These materials are usually dried or crushed, except for indigo which needs to be fermented and processed into a paste.
Dyeing Material: Fabric
Depending on the structure and surface of the fabric, there can be different effects and shades after dyeing. Currently, Đông Phong is collaborating with traditional craft villages to produce various types of handcrafted silk. However, in natural dyeing, Đông Phong only uses two types of fabrics - one made from 100% raw silk, and another combined warp threads of boil silk and weft threads of raw silk.
The reasons to choose these two types of silk largely depend on their dye absorption properties, stiffness, and sheen. The 100% raw silk fabric resembles an Vietnamese ancient fabric called “Sa” and could absorb dye better. Meanwhile, the warp-raw-weft-boiled silk fabric has a certain sheen and softness from the combination of the two types of silk.
Additives: Dye Fixatives
According to Đông Phong, the most commonly used dye fixatives are alum, including alum, copper alum, and iron alum. For materials that already contain tannins, such as guava leaves and tea leaves, alum is not needed.
Natural Fabric Dyeing Process
Step 1: Prepare Materials
The dye materials are pre-processed by drying and then cutting into small pieces. Indigo, as the only exception, is processed into an indigo paste.
Step 2: Make Dye Solution
Depending on the material, either a cold or hot dyeing method can be chosen. For cold dyeing, soak the dye materials in water to extract the dye. For hot dyeing, boil the materials and then filter the residue from the dye solution.
Step 3: Pour The Dye Solution Into The Dye Vat
The dye vat is sized to fit the fabric width. After making the dye solution, put the dye materials into the vat then pour the dye solution in.
Step 4: Add Alum To The Dye Solution
Add the dye fixative to the dye solution. To save time, soak the fabric in alum once before putting it into the dye vat.
Step 5: Dye The Fabric With Roller
Spread the fabric evenly on a roller and rotate the roller so that the fabric is uniformly exposed to the dye solution. For smaller pieces of fabric, directly submerge them in the dye solution and knead by hand.
Step 6: Rinse The Fabric
After dyeing, rinse the fabric with clean water 3-4 times to remove excess alum and dye solution.
Step 7: Dry The Fabric
Dry the fabric on a hanger, ensuring it is spread straight without folds.
Step 8: Recycle The Remaining Materials
Since all the used ingredients are natural, the remaining dye materials can be used as fertilizer or dried into firewood. The leftover dye solution can also be used for irrigation.
The Digital Color Palette
Chromatic Circle
Organizing the Digital Color Palette
After thorough research, VAN•HOA decided to organize the digital natural dye color palette according to the hue circle rule based on the common characteristics between Đông Phong's dye palette and the RYB (Red/Yellow/Blue) color system.
The order of the dye colors is divided into the hue circle levels, including:
-
Primary colors - 3 color pigments that cannot be mixed or created by any other color combinations.
-
Secondary colors - Color pigments created by two primary colors.
-
Tertiary colors - Color pigments created by one primary color and one secondary color.
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Neutral colors - Color pigments that are almost impossible to trace back to their base color or color temperature, such as black and white.
In each color palette, the colors are further classified based on the dye materials, arranged by the intensity and value of the natural dye colors after digitalization.
RGB Color Palette
Red color palette
Dyed from lacquer
HEX
RGB
CMYK
LAB
Wrap-raw-reft-boiled Silk
Alum
efc7bf
239 199 191
5 24 18 0
84 13 9
d68b8b
214 139 139
15 53 36 0
66 29 12
Wrap-raw-reft-boiled Silk
Alum
HEX
RGB
CMYK
LAB
Dyed from caesalpinia sappan
100% raw silk
Alum
Wrap-raw-reft-boiled Silk
Alum
723030
114 48 48
36 84 73 40
30 29 14
96484e
150 72 78
32 79 60 20
41 33 12
HEX
RGB
CMYK
LAB
HEX
RGB
CMYK
LAB
HEX
RGB
CMYK
LAB
822525
130 37 37
30 93 86 35
30 40 23
Wrap-raw-reft-boiled Silk
Alum
HEX
RGB
CMYK
LAB
592323
40 84 74 55
40 84 74 55
22 25 12
Wrap-raw-reft-boiled Silk
Copper alum
Orange color palette
Dyed from terminalia catappa leaves & caesalpinia sappan
8e5128
142 81 40
32 69 94 25
41 23 34
HEX
RGB
CMYK
LAB
Wrap-raw-reft-boiled Silk
Copper alum
Dyed from lychee peel
Brown color palette
ecdbbc
236 219 188
7 11 27 0
88 2 17
HEX
RGB
CMYK
LAB
Wrap-raw-reft-boiled Silk
Copper alum
Dyed from dioscorea
Wrap-raw-reft-boiled Silk
Copper alum
HEX
RGB
CMYK
LAB
937054
147 112 84
38 53 69 15
50 11 21
Dyed form dried banana leaves
Yellow color palette
f2e7b8
242 231 184
5 6 32 0
92 2 24
HEX
RGB
CMYK
LAB
Wrap-raw-reft-boiled Silk
Copper alum
Dyed from safflower
f2e4aa
242 228 170
5 7 39 0
91 2 30
HEX
RGB
CMYK
LAB
Wrap-raw-reft-boiled Silk
Copper alum
100% raw silk
Alum
HEX
RGB
CMYK
LAB
e0c865
224 200 101
14 17 73 0
81 1 51
Dyed from fresh banana leaves
dabf71
219 192 114
15 21 66 0
79 2 42
HEX
RGB
CMYK
LAB
100% raw silk
Alum
Dyed from terminalia catappa leaves
82662f
130 102 47
42 52 93 24
45 6 34
HEX
RGB
CMYK
LAB
Wrap-raw-reft-boiled Silk
Copper alum
99713c
153 113 60
35 52 86 16
51 11 35
HEX
RGB
CMYK
LAB
100% raw silk
Alum
Green color palette
Dyed from terminalia catappa leaves & indigo
4f4322
79 67 34
55 57 90 49
29 1 21
HEX
RGB
CMYK
LAB
Wrap-raw-reft-boiled Silk
Copper alum
434729
67 71 41
64 51 85 48
29 6 17
HEX
RGB
CMYK
LAB
100% raw silk
Alum
Dyed from indigo & Fibraurea
100% raw silk
Alum
4b5943
75 89 67
66 47 73 35
36 10 10
HEX
RGB
CMYK
LAB
Blue color palette
Dyed from indigo
Wrap-raw-reft-boiled Silk
Copper alum
HEX
RGB
CMYK
LAB
364d59
54 77 89
80 60 49 32
31 7 11
546068
84 96 104
69 53 47 21
40 4 7
HEX
RGB
CMYK
LAB
100% raw silk
Alum
Indigo color palette
Dyed from indigo
676f7a
103 111 122
63 50 41 12
46 2 8
HEX
RGB
CMYK
LAB
100% raw silk
Alum
Purple color palette
Dyed from lithospermum
HEX
RGB
CMYK
LAB
4f3f4c
79 63 76
64 71 49 38
29 9 6
Wrap-raw-reft-boiled Silk
Copper alum
Dyed from caesalpinia sappan
3f3036
63 48 54
63 71 58 55
22 7 2
HEX
RGB
CMYK
LAB
Wrap-raw-reft-boiled Silk
Iron alum
Neutral color color
Dyed from pomegranate peel
100% raw silk
Iron alum
HEX
RGB
CMYK
LAB
5b564f
91 86 79
60 55 60 32
37 1 4
HEX
RGB
CMYK
LAB
423b31
66 59 49
61 60 70 54
25 1 7
Wrap-raw-reft-boiled Silk
Iron alum
Application of the Color Palette on Products
Reference Information
Photos of Dye Materials
Lacquer
Indigo
Dioscorea
Fibraurea
Safflower
Terminalia catappa leaves
Banana leaves
Caesalpinia sappan
Lithospermum
Pomegranate
Fabric
Thông tin tham khảo
Ảnh nguyên liệu nhuộm vải
Thành phần vải nhuộm
Thông tin về nguyên lý màu sắc
Nghiên cứu của Science Museum Group
Reference Information
Dye Fabric Composition
Information on Color Theory
Research by Cath Sleeman at the Science Museum Group
"Color & Shape using computer vision to explore the Science Museum Group Collection"
Year 06/2024
Project Manager
Huyen Chau, Nguyen
Graphic Designer
Xuan, Phan
Communicator
Minh Chau, Nguyen Tran (Mou)
Creative Director & Art Director
Thanh Thao, Pham Dang