Color In Graphic Design - Theory Behind Colors (2018)

When working with color it helps to have a good knowledge of color theory.

Colors theory provides us with practical guidance to help us mix colors and create interesting color combinations and it all starts with the color wheel.

The color wheel is a really useful tool designed to help us choose colors that work well together.

So this here is the red, yellow, blue color model which consists of 12 colors

Now if we jump onto the Adobe color website we can see this color wheel as more of a spectrum.

This is an amazing resource to explore and create color schemes.

The address for this website is color.adobe.com.

So the color wheel consists of primary colors, secondary colors and tertiary colors and these can be split into warm and cool colors.

So let's take a look at each of these.

So first is primary colors. Primary colors make up the basis for the color wheel here they are red, yellow and blue.

Next are the secondary colors. Secondary colors are made by mixing equal portions of the primary colors, these create green, orange and purple.

Next are the tertiary colors. Tertiary colors are made by mixing a primary color with a neighboring secondary color, for example if we mix the yellow with the orange we get a yellow orange color in between.

If we continue to mix the primary and neighboring colors, we fill the gaps and get the remaining tertiary colours.

Now if we separate the color wheel we get two categories, warm and cool colors.

On the right we have the warm colors, these incorporate the red, violet colors through to yellow.

On the left we have cool colors, these incorporate the colors yellow through to indigo.

So that completes the color wheel.

Now this is a really useful tool designed to help us choose color schemes.

To help us choose interesting color combinations that have harmony together or create contrast there are some color rules we can explore.

These color rules are referred to as:

monochromatic colors, analogous colors, complementary colors and triadic colors.

So first we have monochromatic colors.

Monochromatic colors are shades and tints of the same color.

The monochromatic color scheme is typically balance and easy on the eye.

Now if we jump onto the Adobe color website at color.adobe.com we can see some of these color rules on the left if I click on monochromatic, it will generate a monochromatic color scheme below.

Now if I click and drag the middle color circle in the spectrum and toggle the other it will generate new schemes.

Next we have analogous colors.

Analogous colors are those found close to each other on the color wheel.

Analogous colors typically always work well together since they have similar origins.

Like the monochromatic colors they are also balance but typically more interesting as these colors have more contrast.

This time on the Adobe color website if I click on Analogous it will generate an analogous color scheme.

If I click and drag the middle circle it will generate new schemes.

Notice all the colors are similar to each other.

Next we have complementary colors.

Complementary colors are those found on opposite ends of the color wheel.

Complementary colors have high contrast which produce vibrant exciting color schemes, as implied complementary colors enhance each other and typically always work well together.

Back on the Adobe color website if I click on complementary it will generate a complementary color scheme. If I click and drag the middle circle it will generate new schemes.

Finally we have Triad colors.

Triad colors are those spaced equally on the color wheel.

Triad colors typically produce vibrant effects.

Back on the Adobe color website if I click on triad it will generate a triad color scheme. If I click and drag the middle circle it will generate new schemes.

Those are some rules you can keep in mind when exploring colors. So that is the second key visual element in graphic design.