Colour Theory

Colour is the properties that a object posses and how the eye reacts to this as a result of the reflection and emits of light. The colour Theory is the collection of Colour theories, designs and concepts, the three main being The Colour Wheel, Colour Harmony and Colour Context. Colour theories allow us to put a logical structure of colours such as colour schemes which are used in the media to create style and appeal in their designs.

How To define All Colours:

Saturation (intense Vs dull)

Lightness (light vs dark or white vs black)

Hue

How to describe colours:

light, dark, pale matt, shiny, satin, deep, intense, dull, muted, clear, cool, warm, dynamic

The Colour Wheel

Based on Sir Isaac Newtons discoveries a circular diagram of colours was first created in 1666. Since there have been numerous variations however as long as they have a clear organizations of colour hues and show the relationship between the primary, secondary, tertiary colours etc then the colour wheel is right.

Primary colours- Yellow, Red, Blue

These are the colours that can not be mixed or formed by any other colour combination. All other colours are created from these hues.

Secondary Colours- Green, Orange and Purple

These are formed by mixing the primary colours.

Tertiary Colours- Yellow-orange, Red-orange, Red-purple, Blue-purple, Blue-green and Yellow-green.

These are formed by mixing primary and secondary colours.

Colour Harmony

Harmony is a pleasing arrangement of anything from sounds to colours etc.

In a visual experience, harmony is something that is aesthetically pleasing. It is used to engage a viewer as it creates a sense of balance, when something is not harmonious it can be seen as chaotic or boring therefore the brain rejects it. Colour harmony has different colour theories.

Analogous Colours

This is any three colours which are side by side from the tertiary colour wheel. This is a monochrome look as the shades are from one colour.

Complementary Colours

This is when you pair colours from opposite side of the colour chart such as red and green. These colours contrast. 

Achromatic and Neutral Colours

Achromatic literally means “without Colour”. It is any colour that lacks strong chromatic content. These include black, wite and all grey. They are very close to Neutral colours although these can have any hue or lightness. Neutrals can be created by mixing pure colours with achromatic colours or mixing two complementary colours. These include browns, tans, pastels and darker colours.

When using only achromatic colours you have to be careful as it can look dull, therefore you would usually see these colours paired with a bright colour for a dramatic effect.

Chromatic Colours

Any colour that has a predominant hue or wavelength is a chromatic colour. This would be colours such as blue and green, whereas black grey are achromatic as they have no dominant hue.

Monochromatic Colours

These are any shade, tint or colour of a hue. This is when you work from one extreme to another such as lightest to darkest or coolest to warmest. Cooler shades include grey or blue undertones while warmer shades have red, orange and sienna undertones.

Colour Context

This is how a colour behaves in relation to other colours and shapes.

For instance when looking down the yellow colours you can see that the colour really stands out against colours such as black or blue, while they look a lot dimmer against white or orange.

Reference

J L Morton. (). Basic Color Theory. Available: http://www.colormatters.com/color-and-design/basic-color-theory. Last accessed 5/12/14.

Wikipedia. (2008). Color Theory. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_theory. Last accessed 5/12/14.