import itertools


def color_cycle(n):
    """Returns n color strings by cycling

    Parameters
    ----------
    n : int
        Length of the color list.

    Returns
    -------
    list 
        The colors.

    """
    cycler = itertools.cycle(['b', 'r', 'g', 'y', 'm', 'c', 'k', 'pink'])
    return list(itertools.islice(cycler, n))