The Elements of Color

• Color immediately attracts attention. Whenpresented with a collection of bottles filledwith liquid in various colors, very youngchildren will group the objects by colorrather than size or shape.

Color Theory

• The art and science of color interaction andeffects.

Color Interaction• The way colors influence one another

• Colors are never seen in isolation. The blue sheet of paperwe examine in an art supply store reminds us of the bluesky, the ocean or the fabrics in a clothing store.

• Lighting also affects out perceptions. Incandescent lightcreates a warm orange glow, while standard fluorescentlights produce a bluish ambiance.

• When the blue paper is added to a design, it is profoundlyaffected by the surrounding colors.

• This effect is called simultaneous contrast.

Defining Color• Hue: is the name of a color. Red, blue, green, yellow, and

so forth are all hues.• There have been numerous systems to organize hues.• Johannes Itten’s 12-step color wheel is a clear and simple

example

• Red, blue and yellow are the primary colors in the center.• These colors can be mixed to produce many other colors.

• The secondary colors of green, orange, and violet follow.• These colors are mixed from the primary colors.

• Next are the tertiary colors that complete the wheel.• The mixture of a secondary color and the adjacent primary

color creates a tertiary color.

The Color Wheel

Value• Value refers to the relative lightness or darkness

of a color.• By removing the hue from the equation we can

create a simple value scale the shifts from white toblack through the shades of gray.

• Despite a wide variety of hues all colors haveessentially the same hue.

• By using a wide variety of values you can create aconvincing representation of reality.

• Limited value can be used to create mood in acomposition.

Value Scale

Basic Variations in Value

Color Schemes

• Guiding principles for pleasing color effects orcolor harmonies.

• Color harmonies: Combinations of colors that arepleasing.

• Colors each have their own mood or emotionalresponse, but that mood can change based on theother surrounding colors.

Complementary and SplitComplementary Color Relationships

• Complementary Colors

– Colors that are oppositeon the color wheel.

– Create the greatestcontrast.

Continued

• Split Complementary

– A color and two colorson both sides of thecomplement.

– Has slightly less contrast

Triadic Color Relationships

• 3 equally spaced colors on the color wheel.

• Primary Triad

• Less contrastbetween colors.

Triadic Cont.

• Secondary Triad– Use of secondary colors on

the color wheel.

Has softer contrast andless intense colors.

Triadic Cont.

• Intermediate Triad– Created with the

tertiary colors.

Softest contrast and leastintense of all.

Tetrad

• 4 Equally spaced colors on the color wheel. Acolor, its complements and complementarytertiary hues.

• Short interval betweencolors which becomes harmonious.

• Has a common hue.

• Variations in value and intensity adds variety.

Analogous and MonochromaticColor Relationships

• 4 Colors next to each other on the color wheel.

– Shortest interval betweencolors and thereforeextremely harmonious.

– Always a common huein the group of colors.

– Can change in intensityand value to add visual interest.

Cont.

• Monochromatic

– Uses only one hue.

‒ Explores tints, tones and shades.

– Potentially the most monotonous.

Emphasis

• Gives prominence to part of a design. Afocal point is a compositional device used tocreate emphasis. Both of these are used toattract attention and increase visual andconceptual impact.

Emphasis by Isolation

• Anomaly, or break from the norm, tends tostand out. Because we seek to connect theverbal and visual information we are given,a mismatched word or an isolated shapeimmediately attracts our attention

Emphasis by Placement

• Every square inch of a composition has adistinctive power. As a result, placement alonecan increase the importance of a selected shape.

• The compositional center is especially potent.

Emphasis Through Contrast

• Contrast is created when two or more forcesoperate in opposition.

• Static/dynamic; small/large; solid/textured;curvilinear/rectilinear.

Applying the Knowledge

• Which will work better in your design, a limited number or wide rangeof hues?

• What proportion of warm and cool colors best communicates youridea?

• What happens when you combine low-intensity colors with high-intensity colors?

• Is there a dominant shape in your composition? If so, is it the shapeyou most want to emphasize?

• Is there a focal point in your composition? If not, should there be?