67 CHRONICLE BOOKS | PRINCETON ARCHITECTURAL PRESS
Perhaps the toughest Design challenge in putting together this Paint by Number Kit was picking the paint colors themselves. “The paints are typically tailored to one painting,” says Alethea Morrison, Design director of the Gift division at Chronicle Books. “It was a huge challenge to work with a limited palette and an array of subjects.”

This kit features eight “vintage” paint-by-numbers subjects— depicting everything from the Statue of Liberty to a clown—with only 12 paint colors. Morrison worked with Deb Wood at the Princeton Architectural Press to pick just the right shades. They sent sketches back and forth, looking for colors that would work well with each other. Ultimately, the pair settled on a restrained color palette that matches the look of “real” paint-by-numbers. Besides boasting the perfect paint colors, the kit also comes in an irresistible package. “We think of these things as being gifts,” Morrison says. “So you want it to feel like the package itself is a gift. You want it to feel like a special object.” She accomplished this by paying attention to all the details—from how the kit’s pieces fit perfectly into the box to the subtle pattern printed on the cardboard holding the paints. by Michelle Taute