Color is the most powerful tool avaliable to a visual artist or designer. There is no other element of design that wields the same power of influence.

Here are some terms to be familiar with when talking about and using color.

Color modes

Additive Color is a way of building up colors by adding in various wave lengths of light. This is the way colors are created on LCD screens and other pixel-based display mediums. In this case each pixel is build out of a red, blue and green element, which can each vary their brightness in order to create nearly any color our eyes can perceive.

Subtractive color is a way of building colors by removing various wavelengths of light. This is how all printed objects are displayed. White light is a equal mixture of all wavelengths, and as it strikes a surface ink or other pigments are able to absorb a particular band from the beam. In turn reflecting only the colors that it does not absorb.

Color wheel

• Primary
• Secondary
• Tertiary

The color wheel is used to show relationships between colors in the spectrum. It is shown as a circle, not because the spectrum of light actually works this way. Rather it is a symbolic representation that allows us to see the harmonies in colors more clearly. In fact what we call the light spectrum is actually only a tiny fraction of the electro-magnetic spectrum, of which radio, microwave, infrared, ultraviolet, x-ray and gama radiation are a part. The visible spectrum is wedged between the infrared and ultraviolet and is a tiny fraction of even a single one of those bands.

The primary colors on a color wheel are red, yellow and blue. This is related to the CMYK color mixing used in printing. These are the colors that cannot be created by mixing other colors. They are the “prime numbers” of the color (subtractive) world.

Halfway between these colors you have the secondary colors, which are made by mixing the 2 adjacent primaries. These are green, violet, and orange.

In the space between each secondary and primary, we find the tertiary colors. These are made by mixing a secondary and a primary. Note that we no longer have specific names for these colors as they are known by titles such as “yellow-orange” or “blue-green”.

 

 

Attributes

• Value
• Saturation
• Hue

Colors have several attributes that we can use to further specify our language. Value is the lightness or darkness of a color, such as light green, or dark green. Saturation is how intense a color is, like in neon green, or grey green. This is basically a measure of how much pigment there is in a color. Hue is the location on the color wheel that a color sits at. This would be stated as red, yellow, orange, or blue.

Contrasts

• hue
• value
• saturation
• simultaneous
• warm-cool
• complimentary
• contrast of extension of amount

When we use colors together a whole set of interactions emerge. Just as when we are dealing with compositions using shapes we mist be mindful of the positions, scales and spaces around objects, the same is true of colors. Contrast is when there is an apparent difference between 2 objects. When we are working with color there is a specific set of constrasts.

Contrast of hue is when there is a difference in the positions of 2 colors in a composition relative to the color wheel. For instance a blue composition with a bright red sun in the center.

Contrast of value is when there are light and dark colors in a composition. This is not relative to hue or saturation, although different hues have different values many times.

Saturation contrast is a difference in the saturation of different colors. A warm grey composition with a bright red object.

Simultaneous contrast is when 2 colors have a shared edge, and are about the same value and saturation. If the colors are contrasting (opposite each other on the color wheel) there will be a very unsettling “vibration” effect. The colors can also make adjacent colors appear different. Here is a video demonstrating the effect.

And another crazy example.

Colors can also have a “temperature”. This means we perceive them as either being warm or cool. By using these colors together we can make contrast apparent.

Complimentary colors have a special relationship on the color wheel. See below for more info on that. We can use a color’s compliment to create a harmonious contrast or accent.

Finally we can create contrast by varying the amounts of colors we use. For instance a composition that is mostly blue, but has a tiny yellow stripe running though it. The imballance in amounts creates contrast and can give interest.

Relationships

• complimentary
• analoguous
• triad
• tetrads

When colors work well together we say they are harmonious. There is a very deliberate parallel between this and music. Since light is essentially made of waves, we can measure the rate at which those waves vibrate. When colors are harmonious we find some intuitive natural beauty in it, but there is actually an underlying mathematical reason! Lets say that the color red vibrates 20 times per second (in reality it’s much much faster, but lets just imagine). We can intuitively say that green is it’s complement, as it looks good together, and has that relationship on the color wheel. However green vibrates exactly 40 times per second. That means that the frequency of red and green are divisible into each other! This is the underlying reason for the harmonies we find in color.

(Sorry for the imaginary numbers. At this time Wikipedia is down due to a protest!)