I am going to tell you 'Color' as graphic visual element. That how important is this basic element in design and how and where it is used as useful element in designs.
In this chapter you will learn - Color theory- Color selection and usage- Some example of Color selection from nature
So color plays one of the biggest roles in graphic design, it can give emphasis, create impact and create a specific look and feel in a graphic design work.
In order to select right color you can either - Use color wheel- Color from nature- Color selection based on their usage
Color wheel consists of 12 colors. Which help us to select interesting color combinations.
Adobe provide great online web tool to select colors. The address for this website is color.adobe.com.
I'll describe this website later in this chapter but for now to I will explain color wheel. 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 neighbor colors, we fill the gaps and get the remaining tertiary colors.
Now if we separate the color wheel we get two categories, warm and cool colors.
On the right we have the warm colors.
On the left we have cool colors.
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 of the same color. The monochromatic color scheme is typically balance and easy on the eye.
Now if we navigate 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.
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 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 Triadic colors.Triadic colors are those spaced equally on the color wheel. Triadic colors typically produce vibrant effects.Back on the Adobe color website if I click on triadic it will generate a triadic color scheme. If I click and drag the middle circle it will generate new schemes.
So those are some rules you can keChapter in mind when exploring colors.