What is color theory?
Essential Color Theory is a set of guidelines and tips which can help you improve your design. Many designers use color theory to improve their designs all the time. Thus color theory for designers is very important. This article will explain everything you need to know about color theory so you can also improve your design with just a little effort.
Color Theory Basics
Color Wheel
Let’s start with the basic color theory. If you have used any design program before you may be familiar with this color wheel. Color Wheel is used to understand the relationship between each color. We are going to use this diagram to explain how colors work alongside each other.
Brief history check- Sir Isaac Newton presented the first circular diagram of colors in the 17th century along with the discovery of the visible light spectrum.
Starting with 3 primary colors, you can create countless new-looking colors by mixing different colors on this color wheel. Let’s see below.
Primary, Secondary & Tertiary Colors
It begins with Red, Blue, and Yellow called Primary colors.
Then comes the Secondary Colors. Red and Blue make Purple. Red and Yellow make orange. Yellow and Blue make Green.
Tertiary colors are mixtures of primary and secondary colors. Eg, Orange-red, blue-green, etc.
Warm & Cool Colors
By drawing a straight line through the center of the color wheel, you can distinguish warm colors (reds, oranges, yellows) from cool colors (blues, greens, purples). Warm colors are typically linked to power, energy, and activity whereas cool ones are generally associated with peace, calmness, and tranquility.
By realizing color temperatures, you can understand how choosing warm-only or cool-only colors in your design affect your message and identity.
Hue, Saturation & Value
Hue is just another word for color. Hue could be any color- red, orange, green, etc.
Saturation means the intensity of a hue. It simply resembles adding white to a color. High saturation means the color is more vibrant while de-saturation means the color is toned down.
Value is the extent of lightness or darkness of a color. It resembles adding black to a color. The higher the value, the darker the color.
Color Schemes
Monochromatic– using one hue only. Pick any hue on the color wheel and create variations by introducing lighter or darker saturation. This formula is said to be the easiest and the finest feature is that they will always complement one another. You don’t need to worry whether or not they will match!
Analogous– any 2 to 4 colors right next to each other on the color wheel. Eg, blue and purple, orange and yellow. They go pretty well since most of them share the same primary colors.
Complementary– two colors opposite to each other on the color wheel. Eg, red and green. Sometimes, designs with complementary colors come out so well as you can have maximal contrast and tension here. Also, you can create more variations with knowledge of saturation and value.
Split-complementary– a base color and two colors that are adjacent to its complementary color. This scheme maintains contrasting power yet differs from complementary colors in terms of visual tension.
Triadic– 3 colors that are equally spaced on the color wheel, forming an equilateral triangle. Primary colors triad are common here.
Square– 4 colors that are equally spaced on the color wheel, forming a square.
Why should you care about color theory?
You should care about color theory because it can improve your graphic designs drastically. Colors are one of the first things that people notice. Generally in design, color comes before font styles and shapes, thereby making it a key element in designing. Therefore understanding the color theory can help you pick the right colors for your next design.
Colors can be used to get attention.
Color creates a visual appeal that catches the audience’s eyes. As a brand, we never say no when it comes to attention, do we? Good colors are going to make your design more alive than ever.
You can also use colors to strategically direct user’s attention to specific parts of our poster.
The main message for the poster on the left is “Designer logos for your brand” and in order to emphasize on the message, I have used a different and much brighter color for the text.
This creates contrast in the design telling users which texts are more important and which texts to read.
Colors convey your brand’s message.
Lot’s of colors have associated feeling around them. For example, people often associate blue with reliability and green with safe & healthy and growth. Every brand has something to tell. And colors are the best medium for nonverbal communication. Colors in a logo reflect your brand’s identity and personality, showing audiences an overall image of your brand.
As an example, blue color famously used in bank logos, because reliability is an important brand message for banks. If you want to learn a more detailed understanding of what each color represent, I have found a really good article about it here.
