Portrait of the Artist as a Man
March 11, 2021

organizing by color

Organizing bookshelves by color is by no means a modern novelty (nor is shelving books spine-in, but that’s a different kettle of fish). In 1848, English publisher Joseph Cundall remarked how, in the British Museum, books of Divinity are bound in blue, History in red, Poetry in yellow, and Biography in olive colored leather. This is an excellent plan in a large library.”[i] Private collectors of the past were also concerned about the colors of their bookshelves: either as a navigational aid or as an effort to present an image of uniformity.

Source: https://www.bookhistoria.com/blog/no-mere-foppery-a-defense-of-rainbow-bookshelves


I wish books were still color-coded by subject! I prefer color blocking books - I find it soothing. For a large number of books, I’d organize by topic and then by color.

My work bookshelf is color organized. Interestingly, that shows trends in book cover art in the productivity sphere. Yellow was the new red. Blue is the new yellow.

Permanent link: Http://blog.angrybunnyman.com/organizing-by-color


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Careers as adventure I love this framing. My current workplace does this fairly well... or at least did - the newer generation of leaders seems much more linear advancement focused. My career exists because of the adjacent possibilities of whatever I’m currently doing.