“Deep violet, sunny yellow and serene blue drench the luscious plates in Leatrice Eiseman’s new book Pantone Guide to Communicating with Color, which she reads on Aug.16 at Eagle Harbor Books.Through photographs of the natural world, advertising and the swatches of the pantone paper used by designers, the reader is immersed in Eiseman’s theme – the emotional impact of color.My background is that I’ve always had this passion for color, Eiseman said. I knew that a color telegraphed a particular message, but I was interested in the question of why that color gives that particular message.Eiseman has spent a quarter century pursuing the answer. When she began her studies at University of California at Los Angeles, Eiseman says, she had little choice but to go into fashion or cosmetics, the only available options at the time for those interested in a serious examination of color. She took a break when her children were small, and when she did go back to school, it was to study psychology and apply the field to color theory.I had a wonderful teacher who let me do a practicum, Eiseman said. I was able to study psychology applied to color. Eiseman became a pioneer in the emerging field of the psychology of color, writing a first book on the subject in the 1980s. Now, Eiseman not only directs the Pantone Color Institute, but she is also the organization’s prime color consultant.Since Pantone is the color system of choice for many artists and designers who need to specify and control colors, Eiseman is a true color celeb. She creates and names new colors for Pantone’s palette, and also runs her own color consulting business. Fields where Eiseman’s services are used include the plastics and textiles industries, home furnishings, architecture and graphic design. Another of Eiseman’s functions is to educate businesses about the importance of their color choices for products and advertising.Some people just don’t get it, Eiseman said. They look at color as ‘fluff’ – they think ‘surface’ equates with ‘superficiality.’ My job for Pantone is to show people how important color is.When she lectures on color, Eiseman warns against over-generalization. Blue is going to be calming and soothing – who doesn’t know that? Eiseman said. But when you get to a shade like periwinkle blue, you get into nuances that are not self-evident.Non-artists find a wealth of basic technical information about color, the explanations of hue, saturation and value, in Eiseman’s new book. Designers with less need for basic information may still appreciate seeing colors in combinations they haven’t devised themselves.Designers are color junkies, Eiseman said. They are always looking to see how someone else does it.For the real color cognoscenti, Eiseman puts together unusual combinations under the heading Unique. Eiseman says her own color sense has evolved since she embarked on her studies years ago.My own particular palette is more fun, now, Eiseman said. I like the nuances more and I might even send mixed messages with unlikely color combinations. I may even throw the rule book away. * * * * *Leatrice Eiseman reads from Pantone Guide to Communicating with Color, at 7:30 p.m. August 16 at Eagle Harbor Books. Call 842-5332. “