Understanding Color
Understanding Color
Understanding Color
Using Color in Design
How We Perceive Color
http://www.skidmore.edu/~hfoley/images/spectrum.jpg
http://science.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/images/eta_car_pix/0099_infrared_lg.jpg
Hue: Any single color in the spectrum (red, yellow, blue, etc).
Using Color in Design
Terminology
Colors can be of the same hue and still have varying degrees of saturation
Using Color in Design
How Do These Ideas Work Together?
Like the elements of design, hue, saturation and value can be used
to emphasize certain areas of a composition or deemphasize others
Colors with high saturation intensity and brighter value are more visible
and demanding of a viewer s attention
Colors with low saturation can be used to set apart secondary information
or to create background elements
Color Design
Color Schemes
Primary Colors: Red, yellow and blue; the hues that form color wheel base
Secondary Colors: Green, orange and violet; hues that are mixed
by combining two primary colors.
Complementary Colors: Colors that are opposites on the color wheel that,
when combined, neutralize one another. Scheme provides strong visual
contrast and demands attention. For best use, de-saturate the cool colors
rather than the warm ones.
Color Design
Color Schemes
Split Complementary: Color scheme using a hue and the two colors that lay on
either side of its compliment on the color wheel
Provides more visual variety than complementary scheme; strong contrast
Harder to balance than monochromatic, analogous color schemes
For best results, use one warm color with a range of cool colors or vice versa
and avoid de-saturated warm colors
Color Design
Color Schemes
Triadic: Color scheme uses three colors equally spaced around the color wheel.
Provides strong visual contrast while adding balance and richness.
For best use, choose one color to be used in larger amounts than others;
experiment with color saturation and value
Color Design
Color Schemes
Can be hard to harmonize; if all four colors are used in equal amounts, this
scheme risks looking unbalanced and chaotic, so choose one color to be dominant
Color Design
Simultaneous Contrast
Color can look completely different when set against different hues,
and is perceived in relation to its surroundings.
Color Design
Advancing and Receding Color
Weight: Colors differ in visual weight based on their hue and intensity.
Weight: Colors differ in visual weight based on their hue and intensity.