Color Theory Presentation

GETTING STARTED WITH

Color Theory

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Using Color

• Color is an important design tool. Color helps highlight important information, attract the eye, create emotion, influence decisoins and more. Color theory explains how colors interact with each other and how they can be used to create different feelings and moods. It helps create aesthetically pleasing color combinations for logos, websites, and other design elements

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The History of Typography

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Introducing Color Theory (6:58)

• The earliest form of written communication dates back to 30,000 BC, with early drawings found on the walls of caves in Chauvet Cave in France.

Type Races

Typography

Choosing Color

• Notice how the color for these two logos are flipped. Green used for "Candy for the soul" brings a feeling of healthy and well being, while pink makes the logo feel fun and bubbly.
• What is the vibe that pink brings to We Care Lawncare? Is it happiness? Romanticism? Femininity? Success? Calmness? The green version is symbolistic for green grass and nature.

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COLOR MOODS

Color Theory

Choosing Color

• When you're choosing colors for a design, you have to be aware of the MOOD you're trying to emote.
• Think about how color might tell your story
• Think about the emotion you're conveying to your audience.
• How do you want them to feel, and how do you want them to ACT?

RED

YELLOW

GREEN

LOVE, ENERGY, INTENSITY

JOY, INTELLECT, WARMTH, ATTENTION

FRESHNESS, SAFETY, GROWTH, NATURE

BLUE

PURPLE

CLEAN, STABILITY, TRUST, SERENITY, PEACE, WATER

ROYALTY, WEALTH, FEMININITY

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COLOR MOODS

Color Theory

THE COLOR RED

• RED= LOVE, ENERGY, AND INTENSITY
• Red is intense and is incredibly attention grabbing.
• Why do you think car ads often use red?
• It captures your attention quickly and brings intensity to buying a new car.

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COLOR MOODS

Color Theory

• YELLOW= JOY, INTELLECT, ENERGY, WARMTH, OR CAUTION
• Yellow can be incredibly attention grabbing.
• Why do you think yield signs are yellow?
• It is really hard to not look at something that is yellow.
• When you're designing something that is meant to be looked at for a long time, yellow can hurt your user's eyes when it's used a lot. It is fine to use as a headline or subhead, for example, but be careful using as a background color.

THE COLOR YELLOW

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COLOR MOODS

Color Theory

THE COLOR GREEN

• YELLOW= FRESHNESS, SAFETY, GROWTH, & NATURE.
• Many grocery store companies or restaurants use green as their predominant color palette because they want you to think they're a healthy, edible option.

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COLOR MOODS

Color Theory

THE COLOR BLUE

• BLUE= CLEAN, STABILITY, TRUST, SERENITY, PEACE, WATER
• Blue is symbolic for trust. We see a lot of online banking services using blue to convey that message.
• there was also once a study on what interviewees wear to job interviews. The study found that people who wore blue to job interviews were more likely to be hired because they seemed more trustworthy.

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COLOR MOODS

Color Theory

THE COLOR PURPLE

• PURPLE= ROYALTY, WEALTH, FEMININITY
• Many payday loan companies use purple as a significant color choice, especially when targeted toward women.
• Here is an example of a loan page through Credit Karma, where they use purple and a woman sitting next to the loan application, designating their target demographic.

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COLOR WHEEL

Color Theory

THE COLOR WHEEL

• Let's take a look at the color wheel

PRIMARY COLORS

• There are 3 primary colors: Yellow, Red, and Blue.

tertiary

tertiary

SECONDARY/ COMPLIMENTARY COLORS

• There are 3 secondary colors: Green, Purple, and Orange

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tertiary

TERTIARY COLORS

• Tertiary colors are created by mixing equal parts of primary and secondary colors. (Think teal, amber, magenta, etc.)

tertiary

tertiary

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COLOR WHEEL

Color Theory

Color Lingo

• What do the words hue, value, tone, shade, and tint mean? Easy- they are all words to DESCRIBE colors.

HUE

• Hues are pure colors. They have no white, black, gray, or any other color mixed in. Hues are the primary colors (reds, yellows, and blues) PLUS the secondary colors (greens, purples and oranges).

Tint

• Adding white to any color. This makes the color a lighter version of the original hue. Think lilac is a hue of purple.

Shade

• Adding black to any color. Think of it like looking at grass in the shade vs. standing in the sunlight. Standing in the shade gives grass a darker green shade of color.

Tone

• Adding gray to a color (both white and black). For example, beige and salmon are both tones of brown and red.

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COLOR WHEEL

Color Theory

Color Lingo

• What does the word color VALUE mean?

Value

• the lightness or darkness of a color, where color is a spectrum with white on one end and black on the other.
• Shades have dark values, Tints have light values.

For example, each color in the purple row is a varying value of magenta. Different amounts of black and white are added to create darker shades and lighter tints. In black and white (rather than purple), it is easier to see the color value by how light and dark each box is.

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COLOR WHEEL

Color Theory

ANALOGOUS COLORS

• Analogous colors are colors right next to each other on the color wheel.

• An analogous color scheme is best used to accent a particular color temperature that expresses the desired mood. Violets, blues, and greens create cool moods; and reds, oranges, and yellows create warmer settings for your brand. While analogous colors harmonize nicely with one another, the end pieces tend to lack the vibrance and contrast of complementary color palettes.

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COLOR WHEEL

Color Theory

MONOCHROMATIC COLORS

• Choose one dominant color + different values of the same color.

• Monochromatic color palettes create a mood of focus and foundation. One dominant color is accented by varying values of that same color hue. Whichever color is selected to represent the brand value, that color is empowered through varying shades and little contrast.

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COLOR WHEEL

Color Theory

COMPLEMENTARY COLORS

• Choosing colors directly across from each other on the color wheel

• A complementary color scheme makes use of colors that naturally contrast each other. Complimentary schemes tend to be the most vibrant, which can really help a brand stand out in a crowded market.

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COLOR WHEEL

Color Theory

TRIAD COLORS

• Choose three colors that are evenly spaced around a color wheel

There are 4 traidic color combos to choose from

1. Primary colors: Red, yellow, and blue
2. secondary colors: Orange, gree, and violet
3. Tertiary colors: Red-orange, yellow-green, blue-voilet

Triadic color palettes create a vibrant mood, but they bring a stronger feeling of balance between color values because the colors are evenly spaced apart on the color wheel, where as compliments oppose each other.

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COLOR WHEEL

Color Theory

SPLIT-COMPLEMENTARY COLORS

• Choose two colors on either side of a color's complement on the color wheel

• A split complimentary color scheme also creates a strong contrast and vibrant feel just like a complimentary color scheme, but because it uses colors that neighbor the dominant color’s opposition, the overall feeling is a little softer than a complimentary palette while still creating a vivacious mood.

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RESOURCES FOR COLOR THEORY

Here are a couple cool links for exploring color theory in more depth. Click the plus (+) button next to each example to view each website.

Adobe Color Palette Generator: Helps you create color palettes based on harmony, and allows you to explore design trends and color libraries.

Coolers: Color Palette Generator. Allows you to randomly generate color palettes and exlore existing trends.

Coolers: Color Palette Vizualizer. Allows you to see how your color palette looks in the wild and test options like headings, buttons, graphics, etc. You can Visualize any color palette you make with the Coolers Color Palette Generator.