Purpose

Use this skill when traditional colors must leave the screen. It should plan color for physical hierarchy, material behavior, production risk, and product-series recognition.

Pain Points This Solves

• HEX colors do not guarantee printed results; CMYK conversion, spot color, substrate, coating, and lighting can change the look.
• Packaging must balance shelf recognition, information hierarchy, variant systems, and small-type readability.
• Cultural products often overuse "traditional" colors without production rules, making the result either dull or noisy.

Data Contract

• Use the bundled references inside this skill:
• references/chinese-color-master-list.md: full 742-color Markdown source list.
• references/chinese-color-harmony.csv: complete machine-readable harmony table for all 742 colors.
• references/chinese-color-harmony.md: Markdown version of the same harmony relationships.
• Include HEX for digital reference.
• Include CMYK only when available from the project data or user-provided production specs.
• If CMYK or spot specifications are unavailable, say the color must be proofed with printer profiles or physical proofs.
• Do not promise exact print output from HEX alone.

Packaging Workflow

1. Identify production context:

• Category: food, tea, fragrance, book, cultural product, stationery, gift, apparel, cosmetics.
• Price position: mass, boutique, premium, ceremonial.
• Material: uncoated paper, coated paper, cloth, ceramic, metal, plastic, wood, glass, label stock.
• Finish: matte, gloss, foil, emboss, deboss, spot UV, ink coverage.
• Series count and shelf environment.

1. Build physical color roles:

• Large base.
• Product identity color.
• Information text.
• Seal, label, or ceremonial accent.
• Variant or flavor color.
• Back/side-panel support.

1. Balance shelf impact and restraint:

• Use vivid traditional colors sparingly unless the category requires fast recognition.
• Keep small text on stable, high-contrast pairs.
• Reserve high-cost finishes for identity or seal moments.

1. Add production cautions:

• Pale colors losing contrast.
• Dark colors filling in.
• Coated and metallic shifts.
• Rich color fields showing banding or registration issues.
• Small type and barcode contrast.

1. Provide proofing checklist before production.

Output Shape

• Packaging direction: category, price position, shelf strategy.
• Palette table: role, color name, HEX, ratio, material note, proofing risk.
• Panel plan: front, back, side, label, seal, variant.
• Series extension: how variants change while the master identity stays fixed.
• Production checklist: contrast, small type, material, finish, lighting, printer profile, proof approval.

Always state that final print color must be checked through proofs or printer profiles before production.