Color
Who is color sensitive??
Did you know that color and visual elements activate the right brain (emotions), while
the printed words activate the left brain (logic)?
Color is powerful
Color organizes
Color creates visual impact
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RED: aggressive; stimulating; sexy nature, assertive; attention; and provoking
action; impossible to ignore.
PINK: Depending on its saturation or value, pink evokes varied mood swings.
Magenta and fuchsia are perceived as sensual and theatrical. But water-down
the red in lighter pinks and the raw sensuality of red is replaced with gentle
romanticism.
ORANGE: Inheriting some of the drama of red, orange is tempered by the
friendly humour of yellow. Stimulates the appetite and radiates with warmth and
vitality.
YELLOW: Yellow and black is the most unignorable color combination in
nature – tigers, stinging bees – it’s the color that says: you’d better pay
attention to me.
BROWN: Rustic, durable, wholesome and deliciously rich are just some of the
traits of the color that’s often associated with earth and home, substance and
stability.
BLUE: Ever noticed how many corporations and financial institutions use blue
in their brands? That’s because blue is seen as dependable and committed. It
is also the color we often associate with calm and serenity. Darken the blue
and you’ll add an instant authority, credibility and power to it.
GREEN: Because of its association with nature and foliage, green in design
can be used almost like a neutral color: greens never clash with red or pink
roses, yellow sunflowers, lilacs or bluebells.
PURPLE: It’s perhaps the most enigmatic and complex color, with the range of
meanings – from royal to elegant to spiritual to mysterious. Purple is often
favoured by very creative and eccentric people who are not afraid of appearing
daring.
WHITE: Not surprisingly white communicates purity, sense of clarity and
simplicity. White is also perceived by the human eye as a bright color, that’s
why it works so well in contrast with all other colors.
BLACK: People see black as the most dramatic, heavy, powerful, classic color
with an up-scale look. Because of its extreme contrast to white, black and white
is the quintessential combination of depth and clarity, power and innocence.
“The eye will follow color around your composition like a dog follows the cook in the
kitchen”
Color has cultural or symbolic meaning
Orange and black
Purple and gold
Red and white
Red and green
Blue and white (anyone??)
Red and yellow (McDonalds
Retro color (ex. In the textbook)
Turquoise, Pink, Black
3 main color languages:
CMYK
RGB
Pantone (sometimes called PMS)
Pantone, the global authority on color and provider of professional color standards for
the design industries. In September 1963, Lawrence Herbert, Pantone's founder, created a unique system
for identifying, matching and communicating colors to solve the problems associated
with producing accurate color matches in the graphic arts community. Pantone has a
particular number specifying its ink formula. His insight that the spectrum is seen and interpreted differently by each individual led
to the innovation of the PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM.
http://www.pantone.com/popups/medialounge/medialounge.aspx?pid=999&
type=3
Today, the PANTONE Name is known throughout the world and across a range of
industries as the standard language for accurate color communication, from designer
to manufacturer to retailer to customer. Book of Pantone chips: http://www.pantone.com/pages/products/product.aspx?pid=999&ca=1
Mother Nature Mother nature is a good source for color pairing.
SOURCE: http://creativecurio.com/2007/09/natures-color-palette/
Nature provides some of the most striking and beautiful color palettes imaginable! You
don’t have to look far to find great inspiration. Flowers especially can give you such a
varied and bright color scheme that you will never run out of ideas. I had so many
flower pictures I wanted to share with you, but this is one of my favorites. Notice how
the complimentary colors of green and red are present in nature. Red and yellow are
two parts of the triad of primary colors (blue is the other one), too.
Nature is, of course, a great source for an earthy color palette. This little bird provides
us with a calm scheme of brown, green, and black. He let me get astonishingly close
to him so I could take this photo! I only have a 4x zoom. He loved to pose, too!
Have you ever seen a Rainbow Eucalyptus tree? They are amazing! You will hardly
believe your eyes when you see this tree with bark of bright pinks, purples, blues and
greens. I took this picture (and the two above) at the Hawai’i National Botanical
Garden in Kaua’i.
Now we plunge under the depths of the Solomon Islands. This little critter is called a
nudibranch (pronounce the ‘ch’ as ‘k’). These little guys come in all sorts of brilliant
colors and crazy shapes! Some look like leopards, others are charcoal with black
spots and others have funny little tufts and dusters along their backs (which is actually
how they breathe!). Our friend here and his surroundings provide us with a beautiful
palette of greens, purples, maroon and orange, which could be effectively used to
highlight a particular element in a layout.
You’ll want to choose a variety of colors for your scheme. Some colors can be similar
to each other to create unity (pastel purple and violet for example), others can be
complimentary (purple and yellow, range and blue, green and red) and at least one
color should stand out from the rest so you can use it to draw attention to a particular
section or element. These feather dusters offer a wide variety of hues, but they all
work well together. Many designs I’ve seen recently have been very brightly colored. I
can think of several menus–especially drink menus–that are full of these types of
colors.
If you are not a diver, you should be! Look at all the beautiful, amazing and colorful life
under the sea (I can just hear Sebastian singing about it). The parrotfish is one of my
favorites because he is so vibrant! Can you believe colors like these pinks and aquas
can show up in nature? What a great palette for a travel poster, huh?
Color is light.
Color is atoms within an object or surface that bounce off light in different ways.
Ultra violet light (dangerous)
Ultra red light
Color Wheel
Christmas, kings and blue jeans
The color wheel is like an analog clock with three primary colors
Form any triangle four hours apart on the color wheel to locate a viable color scheme
palette.
LOOKING AT COLOR! DOWNLOAD ONE OF THE FOLLOWING: Color Theory
http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/reference/colortheory.html
(download),
Color Schemer (http://www.colorschemer.com/download.php
also Color Burn http://www.firewheeldesign.com/widgets/ (download) According to color theory, a good combination is one that uses: • two colors opposite each other on the color wheel (Complimentary), • three colors equally spaced around the color wheel (Triadic), or • two pairs of colors (a total of four) opposite each other. (Four Tone) 1. Opposite/Complimentary colors: Complementary colors are easy to pick out; they are hues that are directly across from
each other on the color wheel.
RED + GREEN:
• one of the more difficult combinations to work with because it tends to remind
everyone of Christmas. This is also a combination that is difficult for those with
certain types of color blindness. To get away from the connotations with
Christmas, try a darker shade of one color and a lighter tint of the other. Or use
tints of both. This can have a very fresh, new feeling
YELLOW AND PURPLE:
For a richer twist, try making the yellow more of a gold.
BLUE AND ORANGE: A very bold combination.
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Any color that is directly across from another on the color wheel is a
complementary color. Notice how each cool color—blue, purple, green—has
a corresponding, complementary warm color—yellow, red, orange. 2. Triadic colors (red, blue, and yellow) make a bold statement in any decor. Coincide with
children’s items (take a look at kids’ games, cartoons and toys)./ Secondary colors (green, orange, and purple) can be engaging, but they sometimes
need to be shaded to work together. Tertiary colors (blue-green, yellow-green, red-orange) can combine for a very
sophisticated look. 3. Split Complementary
These are different than triads, although they, too, have three colors. For a split
complementary, you take the two colors on either side of the color wheel from the
direct complementary.
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TRY Green, Red-Orange and Red-Purple: The direct complementary of
green is red, but on either side of red we have red-orange and red-purple. A
split complementary is half way between a full complementary and a triad.
TRY Orange, Blue-Purple and Blue-Green You don’t always have to have a
primary color in your palette!
4. Double Complementary/Four Tone
Be careful with choosing a double complementary color palette because too many
colors can overwhelm the eye. Used strategically, though, this can be very effective.
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TRY: Red, Green, Yellow and Purple Isn’t it interesting to observe that you
can’t have a double complementary with all of the primary colors? The
complementary of a primary is a secondary color.
TRY Yellow-Orange, Blue-Purple, Blue-Green and Red-Orange Notice how
this is similar in its base colors to the double complementary we tried above,
but has a different mood. 5. Monochromatic A monochromatic -- or one-color -- scheme can be interesting if you use several
shades of the same color. Most colors look great when combined with the shades in various values or
intensities. These color schemes are called Monochromatic, which consist of colors
drawn from the same hue.
6. Neutral and Analogous TRY (see “Neutral” on the Color Theory color wheel) and then Analogous. • Colors that sit side by side on the wheel can be harmonious when used
together. An example of this is red-orange and orange. • Colors also love to hang out with their next door neighbors. Any three
neighboing colors on a 12 part color wheel make up an Analogous color
scheme. They are always harmonious as they share the same undertones:
yellow-green, yellow and yellow-orange. To add a bit more impact to the
analogous group, you can expand it with another neighboring color, e.g.
orange. see “Analogous” on the Color Theory color wheel) 7. Warm and Cool colors
Cool down a warm color by adding a little bit of blue or green or purple
Warm up a cool color by adding a little bit of yellow, orange, or red
Every color has a temperature: from the red/yellow side of the spectrum it’s warm,
and from the blue/purple side it’s cool. It has an intensity that’s described as
saturation or chroma. Saturation is determined by how much or how little grey a color
contains.
SATURATION: High intensity colors are pure, bright and vivid (SATURATED). Less
saturated colors are muted, soft and subdued.
VALUE. Every color has a value, determined by its lightness or darkness. When
planning a color combination, value and saturation are as important as the hue
(synonymous with color).
Saturation: it’s about the degree of presence or absence or the pure color. Value =
refers to how much gray is in the color
For value we talk about tint and tone
Pastel vs. dark earthy?
To get pastels, called tints you dilute the hue with white (or lighter shades of gray)
To get earthy colors, called tones, you dull the hue with black (or darker shades of
gray.
Learn to identify color in terms of its warmth or coolness. A warm blue contains some
red that makes it to look more purple, while a cool blue contains some green, which
makes it more aqua or teal.
Do keep in mind that neutrals also have undertones. Often people will mistake grey for
blue if there’s a blue undertone, or plum if the undertone is violet.
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Grey lies at the CENTER of the color wheel
Grey reflects hints of the contrasting complement of any color you pair it with
*An orange shirt will make a gray suit look rather bluish.
*A blue shirt will warm up the same gray suit to a slightly orange shade.
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= your eyes automatically draw out that complementary color in a kind of trick
of the eye called “spontaneous contrast” (from White Space)
8. COLORS IN CONTEXT DON’T neglect the fact that colors ‘change’ according to their surrounding:
A large rectangle and a narrow line (or type) of the same color will seem to have
different values when placed against a white background
The color in the line will look darker than it does in the rectangle, because it’s
surrounded by much brighter white space.
When two shades of the same color, one dark and one light, are paired with each
other, the darker shade will look darker and the lighter shade will appear to be lighter:
a pink rose will seem to be paler against a purple background.
Larger color spaces will affect the smaller ones:
If a small square of medium yellow is surrounded by a larger area of black, the yellow
square will seem to be brighter than when surrounded by white.
Any color will appear lighter against a darker color and vice versa.
Outlining a color in a darker shade will enhance the enclosed color, helping to keep a
color from “spreading” into surrounding areas. On the other hand, a lighter outline will
cause a color to spread to adjacent colors, and reduce the strength of the enclosed
color.
In layouts, cool colors (BLUES) recede and warm colors (REDS) come forward.
9. DON’T forget about the readability when combining color with type.
It’s true that we mainly deal with the black type on white paper/page background, and
that a black text on a light background is the easiest to read.
However, it doesn’t mean that color and type don’t mix. When used well, color can
add an emphasis to your message. Pay attention to the relative values and saturation
of colors when a background color interacts with colored type. The contrast between
type and background diminishes when their values move closer to each other, and the
type becomes less legible. The contrast between the type color and the background
color must be considerable to ensure that the type remains visible.
When using reversed out text (e.g. light on dark), it’s often advisable to make the text
a little heavier, as the dark background tends to optically reduce the weight of the text
10. Some expert advice on COLOR (USE THE COLOR WHEEL TO
EXPERIMENT):
White Space is not your Enemy: dos and don’ts:
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Choose 1 main color and add and accent color or two for interest. (Less is
more)
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Make your color palette work for your communication purposes: edgy, calm?
Something in a photograph?
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Design for readability and visibility: either way you need contrast. Stick with
dark on light or light on dark color combos.
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TEXT: light type on a dark background pops (although reversing is a bit
dangerous)
Dark type on a light background pops.
Dark on dark or light on light = NO!!!
Other Expert Advice
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Splashes of color for visual emphasis (spot color) is a good thing
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Combining a primary color (red) with a secondary color (purple), can create an
unexpectedly exciting space. •
For more complex color combinations that are still harmonious, create shades
(adding black), tints (adding white) and tones (adding grey) to the classic
combination hues listed above.
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Most colors can have multiple meanings. What blue says to the viewer, for
example, whether sad or peaceful, is influenced by the other elements of
design and the message of the piece.
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The neutral colors like grey, brown and even white can enhance the unity of
the rest of the colors if you give them a slight hue. Instead of pure grey, for
example, add a touch of blue for a cool appearance, or as a less stark option
for white, mix in some yellow or orange.
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The warm colors—yellow, orange and red—are good attention grabbing
colors and can be effectively used to highlight important information. This would
be a good way to use a double complimentary palette; make these brighter
colors less prominent. It’s probably not a good idea to make the actual text
yellow, though, but rather have some other sort of highlight—an arrow or
background box—signal the need for attention.
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On the other hand, don’t emphasize an undesired undertone by pairing it with
its complement: if the shade of brown has a pink undertone to it, combining it
with green (the complement of red) will only intensify the problem.
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Learn to identify colour tone, its warmth or coolness. A warm blue contains
some red that makes it to look more purple, while a cool blue contains some
green, which makes it more aqua or teal. Do keep in mind that neutrals also
have undertones. Often people will mistake grey for blue if there’s a blue
undertone, or plum if the undertone is violet.
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If you like blue but want a subtle effect, choose a white or grey with a blue
undertone.
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A red-orange terracotta pot has a yellow tone to it, hence those colors will blend
harmoniously with each other.
Ch. 10: Photos and Illustrations
Where to get photos:
Digital stock sites
Getty Images
Royalty free images are cheaper
Options for image payment:
Royalty-free (cheaper, but you don’t get exclusive) or Rights Management (more
expensive, but you get the exclusive use)
Comp images: lower res, watermarked stock photos.
Where not to get photos: off of the web.
Use High quality images
Remove distracting objects from the composition’s background
Photos of people doing interesting things is favorable. (instead of people just standing
around.
Particularly engaging: when people are looking right at the camera
Extreme tight crops are particularly interesting: force us to look at the subject in a new
way.
Natural lines create movement.
Sources: http://www.inspirationbit.com/dos-and-donts-color/
http://creativecurio.com/2008/05/the-color-wheel-and-color-theory/