Design with Color

Read this section. Then, read Chapter 7 in your textbook.

Using Color
Using color is one of the most creative aspects you have as a designer, so it’s important that you
understand the ideas of color theory. Remember that color is a property of light in that it can be
affected by how an object reflects or absorbs light or strikes another object. Therefore, color isn’t
absolute, but relative. In other words, it’s affected and altered by the surrounding environment.

FIGURE 16—A Traditional

Color Wheel
Color wheels are various ways of interpreting how colors work together. There are different
variations, although the traditional color wheel is depicted in Figure 16.

Use the following digital color wheels to create endless combinations of colors:

 Adobe Color CC
 Sessions College Color Calculator
 Paletton Live Colorizer

Colors are defined by three properties:

 Hue (the color’s name)

  Value (degree of lightness or darkness)
 Intensity (saturation)
The three primary colors are red, yellow, and blue. The secondary colors are formed by mixing
primary colors. Red and yellow create orange. Yellow and blue create green. Blue and red create
purple. Orange, green, and purple are secondary colors.

Color Relationships
Complementary colors are opposite on the color wheel. Triadic colors are at equal distance on
the color wheel. A variation of the complement is the split complement, which consists of the
one color and the two colors on the sides of its complement. Analogous colors are adjacent on
the color wheel. Your textbook provides examples of each of these color relationships.

Colors also hold strong psychological power in that they can evoke emotional responses in
people and affect their emotions. Did you ever notice that warm colors are stimulating or
exciting, whereas cool colors tend to relax or calm you? For example, red is a powerful, warm
color that wouldn’t work well in a room that’s supposed to be relaxing, such as a hospital room.
Keep this in mind when you’re deciding what colors you’ll use for your piece.

Check out the following resources for more information about using color to convey emotions
and moods:

 Elements of Art: Color

 Color, Value, and Hue
 Color Meanings
 Color as Symbol
 Color as Emotion

Personal memories and cultural differences can also change a person’s perceptions about certain
colors and evoke different emotional responses. When deciding which colors to pick, think of
what type of message you’re trying to convey. Usually, that means asking, “What does my client
want me to show?”

For example, if you’re creating a flyer for a wildlife preserve that specializes in exotic birds, you
might be looking at some analogous colors of greens and yellows that are taken right from the
photo. Keep in mind the following considerations:

 Cultural associations
 The audience
 The client’s or company’s personality
 Your relationship with color
 Current color trends
 FIGURE 17—Pulled-Out Colors
(Observe the various colors that can be pulled from the original photo using an eyedropper tool
in Photoshop.)
Try colors that you can pull from your piece (Figure 17).

You can pull various colors out of the photo and use them as your color palette. Do you want to
use complements or analogous colors? Use them for backgrounds, shapes, or type.

FIGURE 18—Bird with Blue Background

FIGURE 19—Bird with Dark Green Background

 FIGURE 20—Bird with Light Green Background

FIGURE 21—Bird with Pink Background

FIGURE 22—Bird with Tan Background

Your eye will pick out similarity in color first before the size or the shape of any objects in your
design. For example, note how the different background colors change the impact of the
examples in your textbook.

Notice how each different background changed the feel of the photo.

When working with color on a computer, there are other factors to consider as well. Color theory
remains the same whether electronic or not; however, be aware of color models when using color
on the computer. The color models that you’ll read about are

 RGB (red, green, blue)

 CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black)
 HSL (hue, saturation, lightness)
Finally, when choosing colors, remember that your colors must be able to be reproduced or
printed, and they should be practical. Color printing can be expensive, so keep the budget in
mind.

When working with color on a computer, there are other factors to consider as well. Color theory
remains the same whether electronic or not, but be aware of color models when using color on
the computer. The color models you need to know are as follows:

 RGB stands for Red, Green, and Blue and represents the colors you see when you view
an image on your computer, phone, tablet, or another device.
 CMYK stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black and is the color model you’ll use
when working on projects that will be printed, like books and magazines.
Visit Colorizer.org to convert RGB colors to CMYK colors and vice versa. You’ll also learn
about other color models, including HSL (hue, saturation, lightness) and HSV/HSB (hue,
saturation, brightness/value).

Your study of color theory would be incomplete without a mention of Pantone, the world-
renowned color authority. Pantone communicates information about color to multiple industries,
and every year selects a Color of the Year, which, according to its website, is “a color snapshot
of what we see taking place in our culture that serves as an expression of a mood and an
attitude.” Visit the Pantone website to learn more.

Assignment 4 Activities
 Complete the non-graded Little Quiz activity in Chapter 7 and check your answers with
those listed in Chapter 14.
 Complete the following practice and review the feedback after you submit your answers.

The “color” black is actually the combination of all colors, and the “color” white is
an absence of all colors.
Complementary
Colors directly across from each other, exact opposites, are complements. Because
they’re so opposite, they often work best when one is the main color and the other
is an accent.
Red, yellow, and blue is an extremely popular combination for children’s products.
Because these are the primary colors, this combination is called the primary triad.
Experiment with the secondary triad of green, orange, and purple—not as
common, but an exciting combination for that very reason.
Split complement triads
Another form of a triad is the split complement. Choose a color from one side of the
wheel, find its complement directly across the wheel, but use the colors on each
side of the complement instead of the complement itself. This creates a
combination that has a little more sophisticated edge to it. Below are just a couple
of the various combinations.
The pure color is the hue.
Add black to a hue to create a shade.
Add white to a hue to create a tint.
Monochromatic colors
A monochromatic combination is composed of one hue with any number of its
corresponding tints and shades.
Tone refers to the particular quality of brightness, deepness, or hue of any color.
CMYK stands for Cyan (which is a blue), Magenta (which is sort of red/pink), Yellow,
and a Key color, which is usually black. With these four colors of ink, we can print
many thousands of colors, which is why it’s called a “four-color process.”
(Specialized print jobs can include extra colors of inks.)
RGB stands for Red, Green, and Blue. RGB is what you see on your computer
monitor, television, iPhone, iPad, or any other electronic device.

In RGB, if you mix red and green you get—yellow. Really. Mix full-strength blue and
red and you get hot pink. That’s because RGB is composed of beams of colored light
that are not reflected off of any physical object—it is light that goes straight from
the monitor into your eyes. If you mix all the RGB colors together you get white, and
if you delete all the colors, you get black.
 Use CMYK for projects that are to be printed.
 Use RGB for anything that will be viewed on a screen.

Extra Tips and Tricks

Read this section. Then, read Chapter 8 in your textbook.

Businesses are always looking for fresh and exciting ways to advertise their products. Businesses
today are having a harder time identifying themselves as the best with all the competition out
there. So how can you create something that will help them stand out above the rest?

Your textbook puts into plain words the process needed to create an identity package for a
company. Some of the items that companies are looking for you to create are

 Business cards
 Letterhead and envelopes
 Flyers
Get inspired by taking a look at some creative design examples for the following products:

 Designing a Business Card: 50 Awesome Case Studies (And What You Can Learn
From Them)
 Striking Letterhead Design: 20 Case Studies to Inspire You
 40 Must See Stationery Designs for Print Inspiration
 Flyer Design: 50 Brilliant Examples You Can Learn From
 24 Creative Newsletter Designs for Your Inspiration
 33 Simple but Effective Email Newsletter Designs
 The 174 Coolest Brochure Designs for Creative Inspiration
 Postcard Design Ideas
 Business Postcard Ideas: 20 Examples for Inspiration and Demonstration
 100 Brilliant Print Adverts
 50 Genius Print Ads With Brilliant Design Techniques
 50 Awesome Resume Designs That Will Bag The Job
Don’t be intimidated by designs that seem complex or difficult to create. For now, focus on the
simpler designs and note what an incredible impact they make. A great idea is more important
than an elaborate design!

 Newsletters
 Brochures
 Postcards
 Advertisements
 Résumés

Assignment 5 Activities
 Complete the Train Your Designer Eye activities in Chapter 8 and check your answers
with those listed in Chapter 14.
 Complete the following practice and review the feedback after you submit your
answers. .
Review all of your learning materials, and when you’re ready, complete your lesson
examination before moving on to the next assignment.

Creating a package or brand

Most important features of an identity package or branding follows the Principle of
Repetition: there must be some identifying image or style that carries throughout
every piece.