By Melissa Baldridge

	Victorian houses were the first to inspire James Martin in his color consulting business. Today he develops color vocabularies on everything from houses to commercial buldings.

Men are 16 times more likely to be color blind than women. Clearly, James Martin has beaten those formidable odds. With a nuanced feel for the color wheel, Martin is an architectural color consultant who unabashedly says he is “probably the best-known person in the United States for doing color.” This applies to everything from the exteriors of residential properties to commercial buildings.

Founder of the Color People in Denver, Martin describes his company as an architectural color consulting firm that “adds value.” “Realtors tell us that Victorian houses that look good sell fast,” he says. Even when he works in newer, less distinctive subdivisions, Martin says, his mission is all about differentiating the product.

According to Martin, people are attracted by color, and they want it in their life. The days of builder’s beige are gone. Everyone is looking for something new. “They respond to color,” he explains. “People often get into trouble, though, because they can’t see how a swatch of color will look writ large as a billboard, or where it should be painted, or how the light affects it.”

On the board of directors of the Color Marketing Group (CMG), a trade association of color designers, Martin is involved in predicting hundreds of color hues each year in every area of industry. As he explains, “The CMG forecasts and tracks color movement—where color is going, how quickly certain colors are coming into the marketplace. What I incorporate from CMG into the color schemes I design for clients are in the forefront of color trends for the housing market. People don’t want trendy-looking houses, however, but current ones. I translate this into classic styles that will look good for years to come.”

Originally trained as a graphic designer, Martin got his start 25 years ago when he was renovating houses in Denver and discovered San Francisco’s “painted ladies.” Because painting exteriors has a crisply defined season in northern states, Martin says, he would paint houses in the summer and work on renovation projects the rest of the year. In the mid ’90s, he dropped construction altogether and now he and an associate, Megan Eatherton, are color consultants for diverse regional and national clients.

“My business is about enhancing the color vocabulary in architecture,” Martin says. “Once just a vocabulary seen on historic homes, color is branching out even on bungalows.”