Spyderco Forums

Gail's idea is a good one, and is known in color theory as "analogous" color. A "Tiffany" blue next to a Navy blue would be nice, and Ms. CDEP says that would be her call. That Tiffany blue is a very popular one with women.

Another way to go is with what color theory calls "complementary" color. These are colors that are 180 degrees opposed on the wheel. Very popular in the film industry with a Teal & Orange combo in particular.

This site has some tools that allow you to compare colors, and to vary the saturation:

https://www.canva.com/colors/color-wheel/

Sounds like an interesting project. Good luck, Sal!

Looking at the RIT Dye website they give a whole visual range of colors that they make for their All Purpose Dye and Dye More for Synthetics. Everyone perceives colors differently, but their website may have a color that everyone is trying to describe.

For more earthy tones I like their Canyon and Sage colors in their All Purpose line.

https://www.ritdye.com/products/

As an aside, I dyed some Salt FRN scales using the Dye More for Synthetics in Sapphire Blue and Peacock Green recently.

Pokey,

Those look good, you should be pleased with how they turned out.

Ok, I guess I’ll wade into this one. First, I’ll make sure to say that most of what I’m going to offer is based on large generalizations, but that’s the only way to address this question. You’re not going to pick a color that appeals to every female, same as you could never choose one that appeals to every male. But keeping with the theme, which is to have a boys/girls version of the same knife, I would think that the goal would be to appeal to as large of a percentage of each gender as possible. To that end, I would say that men are more prone to like darker and bolder colors, while women often gravitate to lighter, softer colors (like pastels). I like Gail’s idea of two versions of the same color. It could be any color really. A dark blue and a softer blue, burnt orange and a soft “pastel” orange, hunter green and soft teal, etc. I think that’s going to please as many folks within this theme as anything else.

If I was going to go that route and was trying to avoid the stereotypical “blue/boy, pink/girl” then I would avoid using red or blue as a theme color as the lighter colored versions would be getting into the world of pink and baby blue.

CDEP wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 21, 2025 12:16 pm

Gail's idea is a good one, and is known in color theory as "analogous" color. A "Tiffany" blue next to a Navy blue would be nice, and Ms. CDEP says that would be her call. That Tiffany blue is a very popular one with women.

Another way to go is with what color theory calls "complementary" color. These are colors that are 180 degrees opposed on the wheel. Very popular in the film industry with a Teal & Orange combo in particular.

This site has some tools that allow you to compare colors, and to vary the saturation:

https://www.canva.com/colors/color-wheel/

Sounds like an interesting project. Good luck, Sal!

I’m filling out report cards. You get an A+ on this response.

The pink-for-girls product design trope is often referred to as "shrink it and pink it". I'm no expert but I think that approach, which Sal and Gail wisely are suspicious of, works on small children but falls over pretty quickly.

Sal, I think I would question your concept in entirety.

Why would gender and color have anything to do with each other?

Why would would different genders need different knives? Men tend to have larger hands, but basically all humans can use a Delica sized knife.

You might be looking for gender distinctions that aren't fundamental.

Here's a pair of Bonnie and Clyde revolvers, made back when by Charter Arms... similar concept. A his and hers pair.

My wife mentioned Cranberry and Sage Green.

She owns a pink Dragonfly, she wanted pink so my boys and myself don’t steal it.

Without even asking, I know Mrs. Coastal will pick fuchsia or a very hot orange for the female color, and some shade of green or possibly purple for the male.

Wow! You guys re great. Love the different points of view..

Hey Zhyla,

I wasn't thinking to pick the boy/girl. I wanted two colors that either could pick either, but the two colors mostly tells them apart.

However, if there was some subtle way to select the optimal combination, results would let us know.

sal

sal wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 21, 2025 10:48 pm

Hey Zhyla,

I wasn't thinking to pick the boy/girl. I wanted two colors that either could pick either, but the two colors mostly tells them apart.

However, if there was some subtle way to select the optimal combination, results would let us know.

sal

That makes more sense. Hard to please everyone with just two colors.

True dat!

sal

My wife prefers red and green. Blues and grays are definitely more masculine.

Coming at this from a slightly different angle, I’ve noticed in Asia where ‘twinning’ is really popular in couples (where they will wear the same design on both his and her t-shirts for example) it might be that the ergonomics are subtly tuned to a larger and smaller hand size, but all other design aspects be the same?

Just my tuppence (‘2 cents’ in freedom parlance). My wife is a pretty staunch (some might say vitriolically militant) feminist, and she basically shrugged at gender differentiation by colour and echoed my sentiments on differentiation by ergonomics (a low volume and high volume handle option for example). This is really common in rock climbing shoe brands, not from being especially woke but rather from a place of ‘some blokes have low volume feet, and some women have high volume feet, so rather than branding them as ‘mens’ and ‘women’s’, just call them LV and HV models’. Seems to have gone down well, as at my local rock walls I see people in snazzy rock shoes that fit their feet rather than their gender stereotypes, and a lot of couples can wear matching models in their fit as it were.

Don’t know if that’s helpful

Surfingringo wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 21, 2025 4:22 pm

CDEP wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 21, 2025 12:16 pm

Gail's idea is a good one, and is known in color theory as "analogous" color. A "Tiffany" blue next to a Navy blue would be nice, and Ms. CDEP says that would be her call. That Tiffany blue is a very popular one with women.

Another way to go is with what color theory calls "complementary" color. These are colors that are 180 degrees opposed on the wheel. Very popular in the film industry with a Teal & Orange combo in particular.

This site has some tools that allow you to compare colors, and to vary the saturation:

https://www.canva.com/colors/color-wheel/

Sounds like an interesting project. Good luck, Sal!

I’m filling out report cards. You get an A+ on this response.

Thanks, Lance! I love your designs and have multiples of them. That blue on the Siren was a perfect color choice. The whole knife is perfect!

Hi Sal, Avocado or Apricot speak to me . Masculine yet Feminine.

strongly agree that pink and blue are non-starters. since there's no essential link between preferences and gender that would offer clarity here, i appreciate the difficulty you face. if this is for a project along the same lines as the discussion regarding the polestar (was it the polestar re: scouts?), i'd probably be even more emphatic about avoiding pink and blue if it's intended to appeal to younger people.

following aesthetic trends is holding a tiger by the tail, but it might not be a terrible idea to see what shades the 12-22 crowds are liking lately in clothes and accessories etc. it is *guaranteed* to NOT be whatever palette was popular 5-10 years ago, which can help narrow down options.

I know that sage greens, and any greens that are more muted/less saturated and toward the grey/blue end of the spectrum are widely popular across the board right now. My fiance and I are both very fond of them, fwiw. neutrals have been big, and denim shades, esp lighter denim, are also very popular right now. colors have been muted for some time in fashion, but i have a strong suspicion we're about to enter a high saturation 80s/2000s-era again. i'm no expert though, so a shaker of salt required there.

Final thought: the old Utica/Kutmaster girl scout knives had fantastic clear sea green acrylic covers. there was a neat more pine green style too. If there's a scouting angle here, this might be an interesting option to explore:

Here's what the fashion industry thinks:

https://www.polagoclothing.com/blogs/ne ... tLnDU2R-DI

https://www.polagoclothing.com/blogs/ne ... tLnDU2R-DI

https://plumager.com/blogs/plumager-pri ... ummer-2026

nb

Where the probably not really opportune anymore "pink vs blue scheme" could still work imo:
If it was introduced not obtrusive, but very subtle, like as a "hint to former times".

I am thinking for example about liners in pink resp. blue (in the way the Siren or the thin line Enduras have colored liners) for the "girls" resp. "boys" version on an otherwise "neutrally" colored handle (grey or whatever).

derangedhermit wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 21, 2025 9:14 am

My mate says her personal preference, and that of many University of Tennessee Volunteer female fans, is, rephrased in polite terms, to avoid UT Orange in anything to be worn or carried. Very small amounts can be used as an accent color.

That dark smokey gray would be killer, though.