Shaping Color Moods with Ruxandra Duru

Ruxandra Duru is the co-creator of Color Moods, a tool that shows you how to create color combinations but also how color influences your mood. In this conversation Ruxandra will testify to the power of color and the effects it has on our emotions, feelings and decisions. 

Ruxandra Duru researches, documents and experiments with color, beauty and mood.

She currently lives and works in NYC. A third culture person, she was born in Romania, spent her childhood in Morocco, moved during her teens to Canada and in her mid-twenties to Barcelona, Spain where she resided until 2021. 

She worked in the editorial graphic design field until 5 years ago, when she became increasingly interested in how colors, among others properties, can create different atmospheres and improve our well-being in a variety of contexts including graphic design, art and architecture. 

On top of her own practice, she also uses her color knowledge at Google NYC. 

Additionally, she makes music and takes photographs, spaces where mood is also an important element.

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Transcript

Judith van Vliet: Welcome to the Color Authority podcast. This is Judith Podcasting out of Milan, Italy. And today I'm going to be interviewing Ruxandra Duru. She researches, documents and experience with color, beauty and mood. She currently lives and works in New York City. A third culture person as she was born in Romania, spent her childhood in Morocco, moved during her teens to Canada, and in her mid twenty s to Barcelona, Spain, where she resided until 2021. She worked in the editorial graphic design field until five years ago, when she became increasingly interested in how colors, among other properties, can create different atmospheres and improve our well being in a variety of contexts, including graphic design, art and architecture. On top of her own practice, she also uses her color knowledge at Google New York City. Additionally, she makes music and takes photographs, spaces where mood is also an important element. Good morning, Ruxandra. How are you today? And welcome to the Color Authority.

Ruxandra Duru: Hi, I'm very nice to meet you. I'm really happy to be here. I'm doing great today.

Judith van Vliet: I have had this podcast for a while now, and when I came across your profile, you reached out actually to me, and I saw your profile. I'm like, this is a girl I have to interview. So thank you for being here. And I think in the meantime, if you've listened, there was always that very first same question that is for everybody. And I'd like to know your answer to that question too, which is what is color?

Ruxandra Duru: It is a great question to start with. Well, to me, what it really means is I think of it as a gut reaction, really. Like an immediate emotional reaction that I can feel in my body, and specifically kind of in the area of the belly, the gut. It's really something I can almost physically feel. And even though when I work with color palettes, I really like to try to analyze them in a kind of more rational way, trying to find the theory behind why is this working, why is it not working? But what I really trust the most is that really immediate feeling that I have. If I look, I look, I work on a color palette and I look at it and I feel like yes. Immediately I feel like a big yes in my body. Like, okay, this is going in the right direction. And if it's like, then I'm like, okay, so it's not working. Even though if rationally it's supposed to work, that first reaction is like, what really matters. And from the yeses, obviously there's a variety of yeses. There's more different types of effects that color can have on you. It can really uplift you. It can feel like almost like a bitter sweetness, like something deep. But there are all these emotions that feel like very strong, like yes. I really try to follow that. So definitely it's something in the gut.

Judith van Vliet: For me, it's intuition right? I think most people would call it, yeah. Their emotions, intuition. Do you think people can learn that, to listen to what they're actually feeling? And this can be done with many things, of course, in life. But with color, you think that's something that you learn or you think it's something you were literally born with.

Ruxandra Duru: Obviously, I think we all are drawn to different things naturally. Maybe there's people who are drawn, maybe to sound and more sensitive to that and others who are more drawn to visuals or I personally was drawn to color my whole life in a subtle way. So I think the more time you spend with something, the more you can feel like that listen to that reaction. That is more of an intuitive reaction, as you're saying, and not as a rational one. Because I feel like we go to that immediately for many things, and sometimes it's not the right answer, but I feel like, yeah, if you have an interest and if you spend a lot of time, time really helps. Observing. Observing and going back to it. At least that's what worked for me.

Judith van Vliet: I think I needed time. I think also when I started in color, I saw color and I saw many differences in color. But over the last couple of years, working even more intensely in color, I see even more differences and I see even different color combinations. And I think it is indeed the intuition part. I think it is a little bit innate. But I think you can learn a lot about color just by working with it, right?

Ruxandra Duru: Yes. More time you spend on something. And it's funny for me, I remember working with color through various years and going back to things that I liked before I thought they were working. And I look back at it, I'm like, actually it's lacking something. So it evolves. It evolves, definitely.

Judith van Vliet: We change. I mean, we change as per we change.

Ruxandra Duru: Exactly. That's true.

Judith van Vliet: That's true also, because until a couple of years ago, you once said also in an interview, you used color as a secondary tool, which I think is still what a lot of people do. They look at shape, they look at design. And then a certain point, it's like, oh, wait, color. What changed? What convinced you to use that power of color?

Ruxandra Duru: Well, really, I think it wasn't immediate change. It wasn't like from one day to the next. As I was saying before, I was drawn to color throughout my life. When I was a kid, I used to paint and draw a lot. Like, many kids were drawn to the arts. And my parents loved the Impressionists and the post Impressionist. So we would see a lot of that type of art, and I would copy a lot of those paintings. I was pretty good at copying for some reason. So I would paint all the combinations of colors they used. And I felt like it was really something that something that really delighted me. Obviously, I didn't think that was a job at that time, but fast forward maybe like, 1015 years, I worked in the publishing industry, working with book covers. And when you work with book covers, it's really important. The mood is really important. So you try to transmit what's happening in the book, especially fiction books, and color really helps with that. So I realized that I was also really enjoying using color for that purpose. And when I had to, like a collection or something that had to be differentiated by colors, I'd be like, okay, give me 10 hours, and I'd just be doing color. So definitely I would sense that there's something here. Slowly, I realized that I started paying attention to that interest. I realized, okay, I'm interested in color, but it's all in all different sorts of contexts. I would look at a person's clothing. I would look at architecture. I would look at objects and images online. So many images online. And I would be like, oh, this really moved me somehow. And this other image, oh, yes. And here and here. So first thing I did, I started compiling them. I used Pinterest for, like, I don't know, twelve years, 13 years. I hope they never shut down my account because so much gold in there for me. It's like a kind of a repository of what really moved me. So I would collect those images with color that really moved me somehow. And sometimes it was really subtle, like real subtle contrast or photography, I don't know. And then at some point, I realized, okay, maybe I can do something with color. Like, something myself, not just observe. So the first thing I did was to do a little blog where I would share these images, and I would kind of say, okay, so look at this image. And I love the contrast of this red with this very close red orange here and try to explain, understand why was it working? But back to your question. When I really started kind of really understanding its powers, when I started really experimenting with it. So I started this experiment of pairing pieces of paper, very basic, very cheap and very basic. Just taking colored paper and combining two pieces of color and trying to understand what is happening. What is happening in that reaction between those two colors that makes it work beautifully or makes it go, that reaction that I had before. So I did so many of those tests, thousands. And I kept hundreds of those. It's basically for those who don't know what I'm talking about, it's like, basically a little square that is, I would say maybe six or centimeters.

Judith van Vliet: They look similar to the use of Albers cards, right? If anybody's ever done the use of Albers, that's a similar shape, right, of cards that you use.

Ruxandra Duru: Well, I cut them myself, actually. It's very small. And it's funny that you said that. Initially I used paper and then I added also the silk screen used by Albers to add more colors. But yeah, when I was working with this little it's tiny, it's small, it's very small. But I would work on this on a table. It was also during COVID I had more time and I would go back the next day and find these combinations on the table and I would see a few immediately and it would really create something in me, like, wow, that movement in me. And I'd be like, wow, this is so powerful. And it's just the two pieces of color in a paper. Like, it's really insignificant. So I thought, if this can have this power me, like this small combination, it potentially could have an impact on other people. So that's when I had that realization.

Judith van Vliet: Color can make a day or it can break a day or it can change somebody's mood. So you really think that it has that power?

Ruxandra Duru: Well, obviously, maybe not by itself, I would say, though, I can think of it makes me think that question makes me think of those immersive art installations that are really heavy on color. So let's say there's this artist called Veronica Ann Jensen's. I think I'm saying that correctly. And you would go into a space and it would be filled with white smoke. So she would color that space, I think, with light. And then you would really be immersed in color, basically. So it's really wow, a very specific, unique place where you'd be really immersed in a color and there wouldn't be nothing else. Or I'm thinking of the weather project by Olaf Eliasson. I haven't seen it. I don't know if you're familiar with that one at the Tate. I would have loved to see it. So it's basically that gigantic room with a sun looking green and everything based in that warm gold light. So I imagine those kind of experiences really stay with you. Or I'm thinking in a kind of smaller scale. In day to day life, if you are in a room that's painted, everything is painted. Even the ceiling. I love those rooms that have even the ceiling is painted in a collar. It's really like a cocoon. You really, like, enveloped in that collar. I feel like it can have more of an effect. Or if you're wearing an outfit that makes you feel look really good and that the colors that really stay with you, and you're wearing that the whole day, I think it can have an impact. And obviously there are other things that influence that. It's not never color alone. You have light, you have shape, you have finish. Is it a gradient or are the colors together? Are they separate? Are they are they touching? It's so hard to grasp. Color is frustratingly, uncontrollable, very hard to control, I find. And that really influences if it has that impact, on your mood. And that's actually why I started opening up and going from color and started extending a little bit. Other things light the materials. How does that add an additional kind of stimulation for your eyes? And how does that, in conjunction with color, create different moods? But I do feel that it's still worth trying using color in the best possible way, because imagine you're in a day, and then maybe a color combination or something in your environment makes you feel more comfortable or more nurtured and maybe make it. But sometimes we're just a line away from one decision or the other that changes your life. So anything that can nurture you, it's always great to be able to add that. If you can add beauty and to add inspiration through color, maybe in the long run, there's just like, small decision that be like, well, today I'm not going to binge on this TV show. I'm going to write to this friend or this, and then I don't know. So I feel like sometimes it's worth even focusing on the smaller things or the more subtle things like color.

Judith van Vliet: That's also why so to help people with creating the right color moods, but also using the right color, the color combinations, of course, that are super important because as you said, it's not just one color or two colors. There's many aspects that actually influence how a color can make you feel. You created what you say, a color generator that is suggesting pairs of colors against a selected amount of stimulation. Now, if I just read that, I'm like, what can you explain what this tool is and also how people may use it? Yes.

Ruxandra Duru: So let me tell you a little bit about the background of this tool. So it's called color moods. You can find it at Colormoods co, and it's basically a color generator that, as you were saying, generates pairs of colors based on how stimulated you want to be by those pairs of colors. And this project actually started with those color pairings I was mentioning earlier. So I was paying attention to this color combination and be like, oh, what is this making me feel? Why is this making me feel this other thing? Why is this one cringey? Why is this one, like, boring? Why is this one perfect? So I remember reading a book at that time, I was just reading so much about color. Anything I could find about color, about how the environment influences you, I found that really fascinating. So I read this book by Ingrid Feteli. It's called joyful. And part of the book is also about how bright colors she talks about that environments are very understimulating, like at work, and different spaces, like, we need more pops of color. And she was talking about that idea of stimulation as a way to really improve people's lives. So I thought, this is an interesting approach. I hadn't thought of that. Let's see, what could I use this term of this approach to look at color combinations? At least two. I started with two. People might ask, why two? I started small because I wanted to understand how it works with two first before moving to more colors. So I thought, okay, how can I apply this term stimulation to two colors? So I looked at them and I realized, obviously, the intensity of the two colors together. Are these two very bright colors? Are they generally more subtle? Obviously, that makes you more excited or more calm, depending on that, the difference of the hues. How is it? How far apart are they? That's also the more contrasting they are, the more sighting. It's also for your eyes. And if they are really close by, like analogous colors, then you have a more gentle feel, very harmonious, but also softer. But what I realized that I wasn't looking at as much is like, the light dark contrast or like, how dark or light dark colors. It's easy to think, oh, this is yellow, this is green. But what's happening? How dark? If we see those colors in black and white, what are we seeing? Because actually, I read that we see both in color and black and white. Like, there's like two channels in our brains or something like that. And they kind of overlap in a way. So it's also like, okay, what is stimulating that other channel? So generally, it's the more contrast, the harder it feels, the harsher it feels. So there's that I took into account. And then also something that happens a lot with flat surfaces touching is that you could have this thing called vibration when actually there's no light dark contrast. And it's like, oh, and colors are very bright and different from each other, but they don't have a lot of light dark contrast. It will create this kind of vibration that is actually very simulating, but very bothersome. So I was like, okay, this is also something to take into account. Maybe this is the end of the spectrum, like the highest one. They're like, okay, this is too much. But I think it's interesting to study it. It's a long answer, but after that, I kind of realized, oh, maybe this is interesting. So I put it into words. I wrote put it into an article. I wrote an article on medium. You can self publish that. And I love doing that. It's just a way to transmit information to other people. And I find that writing really organizes my thoughts. It really makes you okay, what are you trying to say? How can you transmit this to another person so that they don't like, what are you talking about? So try to put that in two words clearly. And I shared it with the word, and a friend of mine reached out. He's a programmer and a designer. His name is Brian Lee. And he said, you know, we could do a tool with this, like a digital tool for people to go in, and then they would be like, okay, what kind of mood am I looking for? One would be really excited. Do I want something really that's breaking my eyes, or do I want something really soft? And start with that. And then you would have kind of a bar where the simulation bar that would kind of guide you and suggest pairings for you. So this is what we did right now. If you go to the tool, you end up in a place where obviously everything is we wanted to have a landing page that explains all this in case people are like, what is this simulation thing? What are you talking about? It's kind of open. It's transparent in that way. And if you go to the tool itself, you have that bar. You have, like, a place where you can actually see one of the color pairings that maybe you're working with that is very enlarged and very immersive. Like, the whole page is just those two colors. I find that really fascinating to me. I just do screenshots after screenshots after screenshots, and I think this one is so lovely. Oh, this one is so beautiful. I use it so much personally. I'm the best user. That's the best thing. Like, things that you do use yourself, I think are the best tools. And lastly, I would say the one thing that I think it's helpful is that you can actually, once you kind of hone in what kind of mood you're looking for, maybe you're looking for some colors. You see some colors that you like, you can lock it, and then it will generate additional color. A second color will be paired with that lock color in that same range of stimulation or exciting excitement or mood that you have selected. So that one really works because it's like, maybe I don't want this green with this orange, but what about this green with this, I don't know, darker brown or something like that. I think that part works really nicely for people to find pairings.

Judith van Vliet: So let's say that generally what you've discovered is the more intense and contrasting the colors, the more stimulating they apparently are, then the less contrasting they are, the more calming. So this is also, depending on what an architect, a designer, whatever effect they want to reach in a space, that's how they can work with color modes.

Ruxandra Duru:  yes, I like that idea of starting with something big, like the effects. And that, again, is very can be a little personal. I think it's a little bit more universal, as we could agree that very like the lower end of the end of the simulation range if we go in the tool, most people, I think, would agree that's kind of a more dulling and soft effect. And the other one, I think there's something the end of it will be more exciting. So I think that I like that idea of kind of universality, of finding something a little bit bigger, and then people can go in and be like, okay, well, I'm looking for this. But maybe they have this idea that these colors will work, but suddenly they think, well, actually, I thought I like this, but I surprisingly, I'm drawn to this. And I like that idea of kind of suggesting things that maybe people were not expecting or like they didn't think of.

Judith van Vliet: It's a playfulness as well, right? Since the tool also, I mean, of course it's to be taken seriously because especially if you're going to apply it, you better take color seriously because you never know what people are going to reactions are going to be to that color. But it is also to play around with. And that is obviously enhancing the creativity of so many people.

Ruxandra Duru: I feel like everybody can learn and feel like there is something about the tool that I find is almost kind of didactic or playful as you're saying that it's like different from someone telling you, okay, this is a split complementary, it works like this. I think it's a more kind of intuitive way and they feel like they learn something by doing it and that they find their ways of their own version of beauty. And that's really beautiful. And it's very personal. It becomes very one person will use will go to a different rabbit hole than another one. And I think that's really beautiful because.

Judith van Vliet: That'S the question that so many clients also ask. Of course, like, what is the perfect color combination that's so difficult because it depends on the atmosphere. But also color is extremely personal. It's very hard. Right? Just say not a good combination. Or that is a combination that's always perfect.

Ruxandra Duru: I feel like it is very personal. Obviously, there are things you can do to make, I think, good combinations. I have some theories after all these years that I can share, but it's true that so let's say one thing that I like to do that I've noticed that works, for instance, is like, okay, complementarity this kind of balance between colors. It is something that we study and that it does work. It creates a certain balance. Maybe because we're using all our cones, there's something there in our eyes that like, oh, this is satisfying, it clicks a little bit. Maybe there's also this relatedness of hues that are very close and we see like different reds and oranges and pinks or something like that. And you're like, oh, I think it's kind of a thing that, okay, I think it can work. Or colors that are all warm or that all feel like they're bathing in the same light or bathing in the same or sitting in the shade. There are certain techniques that I find works to make combinations that feel more harmonious and other things don't work so much maybe sometimes when you have too many colors, kind of very disparate types of colors, or maybe this vibration we were talking about before, maybe it's very understimulating, it's really too dull. But beyond that, even if I'm working here in this studio, when I had people over, and I have all these three color combinations that I'm working on, and I've tried to make the most beautiful combinations that move me, and I feel they work, and I feel they're gorgeous. And I have people look at them, and some people are like, oh, I love this. And then they have people who someone said, like, well, this one reminds me of my text exams when I was a student. So no, this doesn't work for me. And then they're looking at other one. This is giving me weird uncle vibes.

Judith van Vliet: And I'm like, okay, very funny experiences. Or even when I so different, color traumas, right?

Ruxandra Duru: Totally. I really try to kind of go beyond my preferences and my color traumas, whatever those are. But I feel like that immediate reaction to many people to color, basically, because they look at color, they may be not looking at color as often, or they are suddenly exposed to a color combination. And immediately you get that it's like scent. It triggers memory, triggers emotions. So even though I try to do the best job at making the most beautiful combination, someone might be like, you know what? I will never put that in, because it reminds me of that horrible experience I had. That's true.

Judith van Vliet: That's why when you work with clients, it's so important to understand them, who they are. And I mean, not like doing a therapy session. Well, almost. Color can be a great therapy as well, as I've learned in the past. But yes, you definitely have also been one of those people that has been able to, through all the experience that you have in color, to apply it and support, for example, companies like Google. How are you applying all that knowledge and all that experience to a huge tech company as Google?

Ruxandra Duru: I was really lucky that I showed them my work when I moved from Spain to the US. And I showed all these projects, which are all of them most of them are self initiated projects. Research I did, it's not client work. And they really appreciated that. And I noticed that when I started working. That why it was useful in their cases. I was working more in. The first team I worked with was in the Android section. So they would work a lot with screens. It all has to do with the screens and different types of devices. So flat. They also have hardware. So I was more focused on that on the screen. And I noticed that once I started, I was part of a color team. I was like, oh, my God, this is exciting. Color team. So they have people who actually focus on color, but this is crazy. And I would be able to chat with my teammates and be like, I feel like this color could have could be 2% darker, like 2% more saturated to be like, yeah, you're right. I think this makes a huge difference. They're like, okay, I love talking with you about this because you can feel like it's so detail oriented and so subtle and there's so much time put into making things work really well in terms of specifically, like, usability, making things clear, so making sure that they don't vibrate. They are very comfortable for the user, but they also have this part that at least now with Google, they really put a lot of emphasis on not just usability, but also feeling and personalization. So they are really putting a lot of energy into creating a sensation of delight for the user and whatever that is for that person. Because you can have options of making things a little bit more soft or more vibrant or more constressful or more like tonal, like different closer hues. There's all these different kind of recipes that people can apply and apply to their phone. So not only they use the phone as a usable object, but you also have that delightful experience. So I was able to use both kind of that detail oriented, really perception that you build by looking at color so much, but also work on the beauty part and the aesthetics and that feeling that I'm really interested in, which is that, yes, that sensation of delight that you really feel in your body. So it was interesting that I've been able to kind of apply both of these things there.

Judith van Vliet: Yeah, I think this is a very positive movement that we are seeing in the industry, where it was obviously it is also about selling. Of course, there's a lot of marketing behind it, but actually connect more to the human and the personalization. I think that is a very nice movement. I mean, previous podcast, we talked a lot about neurosthetics as well. So I think tapping into all of the senses and I think especially because you use color on, let's say, a very high emotional level, I think that sounds like a very good match to something that was considered maybe in the past as older. You're moving into the warmer area and you're accompanying these companies.

Ruxandra Duru: Yes. It's lovely to be appreciated in that sense and to be useful in that sense. Definitely.

Judith van Vliet: You have lived in six countries and on different continents in the world. How do you think that has made you who you are? Especially, of course, also on the personal level, which I think is very much obviously who you are today, also in the world of color, but especially when your view on color.

Ruxandra Duru: It's true that it has made me think in a very touch upon that for this idea of universality looking things as a whole and looking at. All the humans at the same time. And I have friends from all over the place. I don't know. I feel drawn to everyone in a way. So I have a bigger view, I find, because of that, because I've been in so many places, and at the same time, I feel that I can appreciate that there's so much, so many facets. It's so multifaceted, and it can be so different and so personalized, and it really depends on the culture you're in. The place is also intertwined with that culture. So the colors of a culture is also intertwined with the place, like the geography, the light, the color of the Earth, the way that we're going back to light. I love light. The way that a light that is very bright will really affect how the colors are viewed more intense, or the way that a softer light, maybe in the northern country, will be more to create softer palettes. Maybe people are drawn to other colors. And it's really fascinating to look at this from that point of view that every place and culture has their own palette. So it's like a big idea. I like the big global ideas, something that works for most people and then respecting and being interested and fascinated by all those facets.

Judith van Vliet: Now, you live in New York, right?

Ruxandra Duru: Yes.

Judith van Vliet: Do you miss places like Casablanca? Do you miss places like Spain when it comes to color and context? Because it's very different, I would imagine.

Ruxandra Duru: In terms of color. You know, I would love to go back to Morocco to see it again with new eyes because I think now I know so much more about color, I would pay much more attention. And Spain, I think I spent it's pretty recent, so I would say I don't miss it that much. And I also brought so many projects. I did so many projects where I take into account the materials there, the light that I feel like I kind of used it. I took advantage of it. I went, for instance, to Iceland and Japan just to visit these places. I think sometimes when you spend a long time, I feel like you I don't know, I feel like I miss more places where I spent a little time. Like, I wanted to spend more time and study it more. Like, Japan has this beautiful soft light, or golden, little yellow, almost greenish, very particular. Or Iceland was very different. And the colors of the Earth is so impactful and so different. So I feel like I want to go back to places, and I want to go to new places and be like, what's going on here in terms of color? Really curious.

Judith van Vliet: What's, like, the first thing on your list? What is one of those new places that you really want to go when you think about color, in terms of color?

Ruxandra Duru: Well, I do think I want to go back to Iceland a lot. I'm reading this book by Ronnie Horn, the artist who wrote a lot, who spent a lot of time in Iceland and writes beautifully about Iceland and also writes about the color. And it just makes me feel very inspired, maybe because of the difference, maybe because of that black earth blackness and those colors that are so surprising. I'm interested in the Scandinavian countries. I don't know why. And I think those are kind of the places I would be curious, maybe Denmark or something like that, to see those beaches, different type of beach than the one I've been exposed to. It's very subtle and maybe grab a few rocks and be like, okay, what color is this?

Judith van Vliet: It's very simple and very clean. Your research. So it's not like going to Copenhagen Design Week and see what's happening. It is great. Stockholm design week. No, it's like going and see nature in those places.

Ruxandra Duru: Yes. And obviously also I really like looking at architecture. I did this project here in New York where I studied. I compile all the colors of brownstones. Brownstones are like these kind of row houses that are sitting next side by side. They're made out of kind of a limestone, I think. Something like this that comes from a quarry, came from Aquari, from this area. So it has a certain color because of this location. And I loved kind of to kind of annotate the subtlety between the colors of one house to the next. And I find that if I go to a place, there's the nature part that's really to me. I love it. It moves me deeply. But there's also this you can tell, like, you can see even in more human made environments, that the color that weights use and the weight supply, the people. There's a lot of information there that's also very exciting to record. I feel like sometimes I'm a documenter. I just document colors everywhere. I just can't help.

Judith van Vliet: You are definitely on a constant learning path, and I think a lot of people are. But you seem to be constantly looking for something that's new, something that just taps into your curiosity. Now you create your own projects. Like you said, it's my research. You establish your new color path. What is a project that you are working on or that you are starting very soon that maybe you want to share something about?

Ruxandra Duru: There's always many projects I was mentioning before. I have three color combinations here lying down because I'm working on a book. I want to make a book with these three color combinations, like a library to share with other people. Who knows? I mean, things can happen. There can be a fire, and all the combinations are going to go away in smoke. So I want to find a way to kind of share it with others. I find that they really move me a lot, and I want to be able to find a way to translate this, at least a part of it. I know that some people might have different reactions, but at least little bit of that emotional impact it has on me, I want to share it with others and not just kind of a mix of practical book and also kind of an emotional book. So it's just a very simple book that I wanted to do. I'm working with a designer who does books for galleries, who worked with books for the Joseph Albert's books. So he really knew I would really trust him with the way the color is portrayed. And it's a slow project. We're working slowly. And right now, that's one thing that I have going on, thinking about the sequence, if we're thinking about the combination, because obviously, again, if you put, like, a few colors together, then I'm putting two pair. So three colors, like, one group and another group, one under the other. So those two pairs need to work well together. So that's another work. But I love doing this. This is one project that is in process and another one that was very spontaneous and absolutely not. I guess, like all my projects kind of intuitive. I'm doing a lot of photography, very like portraits. So we started doing this with me. It was me and my husband. We started fooling around with adding kind of filters or kind of like crystals in front of a camera to kind of distort the image and add color, add kind of fuzziness, kind of a blur, a distortion. We started doing this with ourselves. And then people are like, I want Photos, I want photos. And then I've done mostly me alone at 24 photo sessions in these two months. So it's been crazy. It's like, okay, I didn't expect this. And there's something about photographing someone with kind of a more blurred effect. That person won't be like, oh, I can see this wrinkle. I can see my pores, or something. It's very just like that idea of the person simplified and additionally with the colors and the way they move and the smoothness of the transitions, because I love Roth Club. Obviously, this is too much of a big comparison, but there's this softness of the gradients in color combined with that portrayal of a person in a softer way that really creates a mood. And I'm very interested in mood. So this is kind of something that happened. It's happening at the planet, but it becomes kind of a research of beauty in people and of color and how they're portrayed. And I feel people see themselves beautifully as well and more comfortable, and it's just a beautiful experience that's related to color and mood that just happened to happen.

Judith van Vliet: Indeed, things tend to happen, or you just tend to be inspired and you take a new path. You've changed careers a few times already. And I think this is something a lot of people currently after COVID during COVID after COVID financial crisis that we're in right now, or many cris we are in right now, they can relate to what would be a tip for the people that are listening for the career path and all those changes that you've made. What is something that has perhaps been consistent or something that people should think about or try?

Ruxandra Duru: Well, I would say one thing that helps is supportive partner for those who have one. It is the truth. Having a partner, my husband, eventually, at first he was like caller, what are you sure about this? And eventually he came around this idea of being like, okay, I need more time to study this. I think there's something here. And having another person to trust you and be like, okay, I'm going to work more and you can focus on this and then eventually it will come back and I will find a way to kind of make this sustainable. So that's definitely for those who have that luck and be able to balance and be able to say, okay, find a way to do that, maybe have savings that's time to pause and to think. That's probably what the Pandemic gave us. It gave us a time to not do as much, to be bored and to not have so many appointments and to not feel like we're missing out on things. And it kind of became, I find, at least for those who were not affected, obviously in terms of health, who were lucky to have lived it in a kind of a more positive way, as a way to kind of pause and think what am I doing? Is this the right path? Is this just I'm just doing this because I chose this ten years ago is still something that I find is important to me. So I feel like that space and pause and things that have helped me write journal and things come out through writing, I find that really helps. And I also read this book during the pandemic, which is called The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. Maybe you're familiar or the audience is familiar with it and it truly works. It's crazy how it's really deep and really shakes you and makes you find things that you want to do that you're like. I used to do music when I was young. I used to have it kind of more in Malay in my life. I used to sing or I don't know. And then recently it was just like, oh, let's go to a karaoke. That was basically what music was. And then I did that book and then it was like, you have this life, what are the things that really that you really want to do? What do you want to have in your life? Maybe you don't have to be a professional at everything, but what are the things that you can include in your life that you do regularly? And that's how music went back, came back in my life. And now I have a band with my husband and we have songs on Spotify. And I was like, oh, my God, you would have told me this, like, a few years ago. Be like what? How did that happen? So I find that it's also a permission to yourself. Sometimes it's not an external blockage. I find that sometimes it's like, excuses we make for ourselves or like, a kind of internal blockage. That book really helps in that sense. Lastly, I would say it's really, like, minimizing and pruning and removing things. I was very into minimalism. Very. Like, I read all the maricondo and then everything else related to minimalism. I was like, oh, I like this. I don't know why it just felt so liberating. Maybe because I've been moving so much and I wanted to have this kind of lightness and be able to move even more. And I felt like possessions kind of really kind of weighted me down. So this pruning and minimizing, it really helped because we also did that with books and things that really or things that remind you of a certain identity or a certain person you were either professionally or personally. Maybe you have books about personally graphic design or typography. I'm not doing that anymore, but I still have them there. They remind me of what I want. So I think a change in career is not just a change in career. It's really a change in identity. So having that space of being like, okay, removing everything and being starting afresh and be like, kind of books do I want to buy now? So I started buying books about color, about interiors, about architecture, about interiors. Like, okay, this is what I am now. So it's very interesting. It's difficult. It's very hard to give away things. It helps to move in a different country, for sure. You have to. So that was maybe the last thing that's very important. That was very useful for me.

Judith van Vliet: Yeah, I tend to think that helps as well. Three years ago, I was about to move and then the pandemic happened. About to but I remember that cleanup that I did and getting rid of things that I truly did not want or distancing yourself from things that you still I do the same thing with my intuition. When something my body leans into it's a keep. When my body moves away, I'm like, totally.

Ruxandra Duru: Exactly. It's like the color thing. Exactly. It's basically Marie Kondo.

Judith van Vliet: It is, yeah. Although, Marie Kondo, I don't think this is a lot of color, but okay.

Ruxandra Duru: No, not at all. But I think I felt like it was silly at first. It was like, take it in your hands and see if it parks you. And I was like, okay. It seems very silly, but it actually works. So I feel like it's kind of with color, like, okay, get close to it. Maybe you can touch it. But what do you feel immediately and listen to that and interestingly, I find there's kind of a parallel there.

Judith van Vliet: Your color mood is connected to everything that we do in the end, in life. Thank you so much for this conversation. It's been very interesting to listen to you and also to the advice that you have given. And I'm very sure there's going to be a lot of people that are going to go to your website and make their color combinations.

Ruxandra Duru: I feel so blessed when people use it for different projects. It's not just like an ego thing of like, oh, I am important. People are using my projects. Really? I feel like it really can sincerely be useful to people and be delightful. So if anyone wants to reach out or talk about color, this is a beautiful place to also meet other people who are interested in color. So this was really lovely and thank you so much for the conversation.

Judith van Vliet: I hope you enjoyed this last episode. If you are a fan of the Color Authority podcast, please let us know by reviewing and rating our show on whichever platform you're listening on. The next episode is coming out next month, and in the meantime, I'm wishing you a wonderful, colorful day.