Color Notes

2.25.2015

Design

Color Theory

“I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way… things I had no words for.”

-Georgia O’Keeffe

3 types of Colors

• Primary
• Secondary
• Tertiary

ROYGBIV

• Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet.

Primary Colors

• Primary (RYB): Pigment generated colors are derived from these primary colors: red, yellow and blue.
• Primary (RGB): Light generated colors are derived from these primary colors: red, green and blue.
• Subtractive Color: Pigment Generated Model
• Additive Color: Light Generated Model

Secondary and Tertiary

• Secondary: Mixing primary colors creates other colors. For example: blue + yellow = green.  Blue + red = violet.
• Tertiary & Beyond: A secondary color wheel can expand to tertiary and beyond.

Color Mixing

• RGB: Red, Green, Blue. Light Generated Model
• RGY: Red, Green, Yellow. Pigment Generated Model
• CMYK: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black. Print Process Model

Color Modes

• Monochrome: Tints, Shades and Tones of a single hue.
• Grey Scale: Black and White only.
• Web Safe RGB: Hexadecimal compatible.

Color Modification

• Tints: Add white to a pure hue.
• Shades: Add black to a pure hue.
• Tones: Add grey to a pure hue.

Color Harmony

• Complementary: colors at the opposite ends are complements to each other, making each other pop out.
• Split Complementary: Get compliments, and move one to another direction from one complement.
• Analogous: 3 neighboring colors.
• Triad: Making a triangle in the wheel.
• Tetradic: Making a rectangle, 2 pairs of neighbors, opposite of eachother.
• Quadrilateral: Making a square in the color wheel.

Color Palettes

• Different color palettes can invoke mood, location, emotion.

Color Properties

• Cool, Warm, Bright, Dark, Saturated, Desaturated.

Color Intensity

• Color intensity changes in relation to its surrounding color.

Color Associations

• These types of color associations are universal to all people.

Cultural and Psychological Color Associations

• These color associations are generated from cultural and contemporary sources and may not be universally recognizable.

Why Color Matters

• 73% of purchasing decisions are now made in-store.
• Catching the shopper’s eye and conveying information effectively are critical to successful sales.
• Color increases brand recognition by up to 80%

Color Affects: Appetite

• Blue is a rare occurrence in nature.
• We have no appetite response to blue food.

Color Effects: The Mind

• Pink is a tranquilizing color that drains your energy.
• Used in prisons, holding cells, opposing team locker rooms.