Naomi Lee DDD 30013 Publication Design Swinburne University of Technology School of Design Printed by Whites Law Bindery 802/804 Glen Huntly Rd, Caulfield South VIC 3162 Type faces Liquido - Fluid Montserrat - Semi bold, Bold, Regular, Light, Ultra light Published and Printed in Melbourne, Australia for the School of Design 2017 All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by means, electronic or mechanical, including photography, recording or any other information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from Swinburne University of Technology. Declaration of Originality Unless specifically referenced in the bibliography, the mark and all other material in this book is the original creation of the author. While very effort has been made to ensure the accuracy, the publisher does not under any circumstance accept any responsibility for error or omission. Copyright Agreement I agree for Swinburne University to use my project in this book for non commercial purposes, including: promoting the activities of the university or students: internal educational or administrative purposes: entry into appropriate awards, competitions and other related non commercial activities to show my work in lectures and as an example for future students online and face to face and in lectures. In some situations, this may involve re-purposing the work to meet the requirement of Swinburne’s use. I agree to grant to Swinburne exclusive worldwide, non commercial, irrevocable and free of fee license to use this project produced in DDD30013 in any way for non-commercial purposes.
26 May 2017
C O N T E N T S
2.THE BASICS: U N D E R S TA N D I N G COLOUR
10.COLOUR
I N S P I R AT I O N
24.THE
PSYCHOLOGY OF COLOUR
44.COLOUR
IN DESIGN
52.
REFERENCES
THE BASICS: UNDERSTANDING COLOUR
GREEN
BLUE
YELLOW
VIOLET
ORANGE
RED
the colour wheel You’ve likely seen it in a school art class, or at least are familiar with its stripped-down form: the primary colors of red, yellow, and blue. We’ll be dealing with the traditional color wheel of 12 colors, often used by painters and other artists. It’s an easy visual way of understanding colors’ relationships with each other. The color wheel is all about mixing colors. Mix the primary or base colors red, yellow, and blue, and you get the secondary colors on the color wheel: orange, green, and violet. Mix those with a primary color, and you get the third level of the color wheel, tertiary colors. Those include red-orange, yellow-orange, yellow-green, blue-green, blue-violet, and red-violet.
The primary and secondary colors (with the addition of indigo) are also part of the visible spectrum of light, or the “colors of the rainbow.” You many have memorized the acronym “Roy. G. Biv” as a kid to remember these colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. This way of understanding color is known as an subtractive model, which involves mixing colored pigments like paints or inks — both the traditional color wheel and the CMYK color system that printing equipment uses fall into this category. That’s opposed to the additive model, which involves mixing colored light (like the colors you see on your computer screen or TV) and uses a different set of primary colors: red, green, and blue, often abbreviated RGB.
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colour terms 12
Before we get into how to use the color wheel to create color palettes for your designs, let’s take a quick look at some color-related terms that will help you understand the different types of colors you might be using as you Hue: synonymous with “color� or the name work on design projects: of a specific color; traditionally refers to one of the 12 colors on the color wheel. Shade: a hue darkened with black. Tone: a hue dulled with gray. Tint: a hue lightened with white. Saturation: refers to the intensity or purity of a color (the closer a hue approaches to gray, the more desaturated it is). Value: refers to the lightness or darkness of a color.
SHADE
TONE
SATURATION
VALUE
#FF918A
TINT
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MONOCHROMATIC
ANALOGOGUS
SPLIT-COMPLEMENTARY
COMPLEMENTARY
TRIADIC
TETRADIC
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colour harmony Now that we’ve got the more technical stuff out of the way, let’s look at how the color wheel can be a practical resource in choosing colors for a design project. We can pull a number of classic palettes from the color wheel that painters have been using for centuries to create balanced and visually pleasing (or high-contrast and striking) compositions. In most design applications, these color schemes will need to be split into one dominant color — dominant either because of how much it appears in the design, or because of how it stands out in comparison with other colors — and one or more accent colors.
Monochromatic: various shades, tones, or tints of one color; for instance, a range of blues varying from light to dark; this type of scheme is more subtle and conservative.
Analogous: hues that are side by side on the color wheel; this type of scheme is versatile and easy to apply to design projects. Complementary: opposites on the color wheel, such as red/green or blue/orange; complementary colors are high-contrast and high-intensity, but can be difficult to apply in a balanced, harmonious way (especially in their purest form, when they can easily clash in a design). Split-Complementary: any color on the color wheel plus the two that flank its complement; this scheme still has strong visual contrast, but is less jarring than a complementary color combination. Triadic: any three colors that are evenly spaced on the color wheel. Tetradic/Double-Complementary: two complementary pairs; this scheme is very eye-catching, but may be even harder to apply than one pair of complementary colors, since more colors are more difficult to balance. If you use this type of scheme, you’ll want to choose one of the four to be the dominant color and adjust the saturation/value/ etc. of some or all the colors so they work well in different parts of your design like the text and background.
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In addition to the color combinations found in the color wheel, our surrounding provides endless inspiration for harmonious color schemes. Colors can also be paired by temperature (warm or cool colors), saturation (vivid colors often look youthful, while faded ones look vintage), mood (bright & fun, dark & serious), theme (location, season, holiday), and other qualities. The following pages provide great colour palettes pulled from nature and travel photography.
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~ From left Pink succulent refer to back Moss in Japan original image
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~ From left Concrete sky original image Orange wall refer to back Warm shadows original image Shipping containers refer to back
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~ From left Purple leaf refer to back Red succulent refer to back
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~ From left Purple sunset original image Orange fence original image
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~ From left Marshmallow clouds original image Sky mirror original image Speedy bottle original image
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Color is all around us. Whether we realize it or not, it plays a big role in our everyday lives. That orange or yellow traffic sign you saw on the road today? It caught your attention for a reason. That box of cereal you bought at the market even though it was a little more expensive than the others? You might have been drawn to the colors on its packaging. Color even creeps its way into language… why do we say people are “seeing red” when they’re angry or “feeling blue” when they’re sad? Because color has a unique connection to our moods and emotions, but not everyone thinks about or experiences color in the same way. The meaning and symbolism we associate with different colors are influenced a great deal by the cultural and societal groups we identify with. Let’s take a look at some common meanings associated with basic colors in Western culture.
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Red
This color can communicate many different ideas depending on its context. Because red is associated with fire, it can represent warmth — or danger. Since red is also the color of blood, it’s considered an energetic, lively color and is also associated with matters of the heart, and sometimes violence. Alternate meanings: In some Eastern cultures, red symbolizes good fortune and prosperity and is the color worn by brides on their wedding day. Worldwide, red has been associated with various political movements and has symbolized revolution. In branding: Red often communicates strength, confidence, and power and is a highly visible color.
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Also a fiery color, orange combines the warmth of red with the cheerfulness of yellow for a hue that communicates activity, energy, and optimism. It’s also associated with the harvest or autumn season. 36
Alternate meanings: In India, saffron, a certain yellowish shade of orange, is considered sacred. In Japan, orange is the color that symbolizes love. In branding: Orange often represents youthfulness and creativity. Gold, which is a type of orange or yellow depending on its hue, is a symbol of luxury or high quality.
orange
yellow
As the color of sunshine, yellow often communicates happiness, cheerfulness, friendliness, and the freshness of spring. It can also signal warning or caution in certain contexts. Some variations (especially desaturated and greenish yellows) can look sickly or unpleasant; historically, yellow has sometimes been associated with illness and quarantine. 39
Alternate meanings: In some Eastern and Asian cultures, yellow is associated with royalty or high rank. In parts of Africa and Latin America, yellow is the traditional color of mourning. In branding: Pure/bright yellow does a great job of attracting attention, but can be visually disturbing or even hard to see (for instance, white text against a bright yellow background or vice versa) if not used with care.
This is the color of nature, plant life, and growth. As such, it often communicates health, freshness, or an “all-natural” quality. Dark green can represent wealth (or anything money-related) and stability. 40
Alternate meanings: Among cultures that practice Islam, green is a sacred color. Green is also associated with Ireland and, by extension, St. Patrick’s Day and lucky four-leaf clovers. In branding: Brands or product that wants to come across as “green” (in the sense of natural, healthy, sustainable, environmentally friendly, organic, etc.) often use natureinspired colors like green and brown.
green
blue
The color of the sea and sky, blue often communicates peaceful, clean qualities. As opposed to more energetic, warmer coolers, blue is seen as calming. In some contexts, it can represent sadness or depression. Alternate meanings: In Middle Eastern cultures, blue has traditionally represented protection against evil. Because of its association with the heavens, blue symbolizes immortality and/or spirituality in many cultures. In branding: Blue is widely used and one of the most versatile colors. It’s generally used to communicate trustworthiness, security, and stability. Dark or navy blue is a particularly popular choice for corporate contexts, since it’s perceived to have serious, conservative, and professional qualities.
43
Purple is traditionally associated with royalty, majesty, or honor. It can also have spiritual/mystical or religious connotations. 44
Alternate meanings: In many cultures around the world, purple represents nobility or wealth; however, in Thailand and parts of South America, the color is associated with mourning. In branding: Darker shades of purple often still symbolize luxury or opulence, while lighter/brighter shades can come across feminine or childish.
purple
black
Like red, black has many (sometimes opposing) meanings. It can represent power, luxury, sophistication, and exclusivity. On the other hand, it can symbolize death, evil, or mystery. In apparel, black generally communicates formality (“black tie” parties) or mourning/sorrow (as the color traditionally worn to funerals). Alternate meanings: In some Asian and Latin American cultures, black is considered a masculine color. In Egypt, black signifies rebirth. Across many cultures, the color is associated with magic, superstition, or bad luck — or, similarly, the unexplainable or unknown. In branding: Black is so widely used that’s it’s almost a neutral, though it can still communicate the meanings above depending on context. Many designs are simply black and white, whether that’s a deliberate choice or just to save money on color printing. Colors always look brighter and more intense against black.
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As the color of light and snow, white often represents purity, innocence, goodness, or perfection (and is traditionally worn by brides), but it can also come across as stark or sterile. Alternate meanings: In China, white is the color of mourning. It represents peace across many cultures — a white flag is a universal symbol of truce or surrender. In branding: White often communicates simplicity or a clean, modern quality. Designers seeking a minimalist aesthetic will frequently use a lot of white.
white
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Adding colors to a design involves a little more than choosing two or three hues and plunking them down in equal parts in your layout. Effectively applying color to a design project has a lot to do with balance — and the more colors you use, the more complicated it is to achieve balance. 52
An easy way to think of this concept is by splitting your color choices into dominant and accent colors. The dominant color will be the most visible and most frequently used hue in your design, while one or more accent colors will complement and balance out that main color. Paying attention to how these colors interact with each other — the amount (or lack) of contrast, the ease of readability when text is involved, how certain colors make others look when they’re side by side, what kind of mood a color combination creates, etc. — will help you fine-tune a perfect palette for your design purposes.
A common rule of thumb for using a basic, three-color palette in a design is known as the 60-30-10 rule. This approach is often used in interior design, but can also be effectively applied to web or print design projects. You simply make your dominant hue account for 60% the color in the design, while two accent colors use up the remaining 30% and 10%. A good analogy for understanding how this works is picturing a man’s suit: the suit jacket and pants account for 60% of the color in the outfit; the shirt accounts for 30%; and the tie offers a small Another way to keep your color palette pop of color at 10% — creating a simple and balanced is using shades and balanced, polished appearance. tints (or lighter and darker versions of a chosen hue). That way, you’re able to expand your color choices without overwhelming your design with a rainbow of colors.
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“BRAND RECOGNITION IS
TIED
54
STRONGLY TO COLOR.”
Colour in marketing & branding 55
Brand recognition is tied strongly to color. Just think of CocaCola, Facebook, or Starbucks, and I’ll bet you can immediately name the colors those brands are associated with. A study from the University of Winnipeg, titled the “Impact of Color on Marketing,” found that people’s initial judgments about products are based largely on color (with about 60 to 90% of the assessment — which takes only 90 seconds — based on color alone.) This means that in design, color is not just an artistic choice, but also an important business decision — affecting everything from consumers’ perceptions about a brand to product sales. However, when choosing a color scheme for your logo or brand, you don’t have to stick to any traditional, symbolic, or stereotypical methods. There’s no foolproof process or hardand-fast rules when it comes to color. What’s most important is that the color and how it’s used within a design is a good fit for a brand’s personality and market context. For some inspiration, visit BrandColors.net, a website that has compiled a visual guide (with hex codes) to the color choices made by recognizable brands from around the world.
rgb vs cymk colour systems 56
When you’re working on a design project that will need to be printed, your computer monitor can’t accurately display colors as they will look on paper. “What you see” is not “what you get,” because digital monitors/screens and printers use two different color systems: RGB and CMYK. RGB refers to the small dots of red, green, and blue light that combine to form visible colors on a screen; while CMYK stands for the cyan, magenta, yellow, and black ink that printing equipment mixes together to create color prints. Because the RGB color space uses a wider color spectrum than CMYK, it’s worth noting that some designers like to initially create a print project in RGB for more color options, then convert the finished design to CMYK before printing. Due to these differences, designers need a way to get consistent color results when working with both systems — for instance, if you’re designing a logo to use on your website but also want to get a business card printed. That’s where the Pantone Matching System (or PMS) can help. Colors can be matched for web and print (as well as for different types of printing surfaces) to ensure a uniform appearance. The Pantone system makes it easy for designers, clients, and printers to collaborate and ensure that the final product looks as intended.
RGB
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CMYK
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REFERENCES All text in this publication is sourced from Canva - Design school. ~ https://designschool.canva.com/color-theory/. All images and graphic elements are original unless stated. Sourced Images Pink succulent ~ https://www.flickr.com/photos/139742877@N02/26051933246/ Orange wall ~ https://au.pinterest.com/pin/515662226074252127/ Shipping containers ~ https://au.pinterest.com/pin/515662226074252131/ Purple leaf ~ https://au.pinterest.com/pin/515662226074252140/ Red succulent ~ https://au.pinterest.com/pin/515662226074252124/