Color Theory

Traditional Color wheel: RYB (red, yellow, blue)

✏️What is color theory?

Color theory is the art and science of how colors interact, mix and evoke emotions.

Color theory combines physics, psychology and aesthetics to create pleasing color combinations.

✏️What is a color wheel?

A color wheel is a visual diagram that organizes colors in a circle. This helps the user understand how colors relate to each other.

It is a tool used by artists, designers and creators to mix color palettes and organize colors into patterns or color harmonies.

Traditional Color Wheel: RYB (red, yellow, blue)

There are 3 colors wheel categories used to organize colors.

✏️ Traditional Color Wheel

Traditional Color Wheel Type: RYB: Red, Yellow, Blue

This is a traditional way of mixing colors with raw materials.

This is the standard tool for understanding color patterns.

✏️ CMYK

Printed Materials Color Wheel Type: CMYK: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Key (black)

This is how modern printing presses and modern printers use color.

This color wheel is based on light physics and how light, paper and what you see with your eye relate to each other.

Using specific color chemicals, printers can offer a broader range of color options using this color wheel as their guide.

✏️ RGB

Digital Materials Color Wheel Type: RGB (Red, Green, Blue)

This is used when designers are using color to communicate on digital platforms.

Because human eyes have receptors (cones) that specifically detect Red, Green, and Blue, electronic screens mimic this by blending these three exact wavelengths of light.

Traditional RYB Color Wheel

How are colors organized on the Traditional RYB Color Wheel?

✏️ Primary Colors

Red, Yellow and Blue

These colors can be mixed to create all of the other colors. You can not mix other colors to create these colors.

✏️Secondary Colors

Green, Purple and Orange

✏️Intermediate (or Tertiary) Colors

Yellow-Orange, Yellow-Green, Blue-Green, Blue-Violet, Red Violet, Red Orange

Color Vocabulary : Words to use when talking about color.

✏️ Hue

This word refers to the color on the color wheel.

Example: Navy Blue (dark Blue) and Sky Blue (light Blue) share the same hue.

✏️ Saturation

This word refers to the vibrancy of the color.

Highly saturated colors are vibrant, think neon colors!

Low saturated colors are grey, think black and white photography.

✏️ Value

This refers to how dark or light a color is.

✏️Temperature

This refers to how colors are arranged on the color wheel.

Half of the color wheel is considered warm, half of the color wheel is considered cool.

Color Harmonies : How to use color patterns.

✏️ Monochromatic Colors

Using 1 color only.

Add black and white to the color to change the value.

✏️ Complementary Colors

Colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel.

✏️ Split Complementary Colors

1 color and the neighbor’s on either side of the opposite color.

For instance, yellow and the neighbors of purple (yellow’s complementary).

✏️ Triadic Colors

Color Harmony that uses 3 colors that are evenly spaced on the color wheel.

Example: Yellow – Red – Blue

Example: Green – Orange – Purple

✏️ Tetradic Colors

Colors that are opposite each on the color wheel paired with

another set of complementary colors that are one color space over.

✏️ Analogous Color

Three or more colors next to each other on the color wheel that share a complementary color.

RGB Color Wheel: Used for digital materials.

Designers use hex code numbers. A series of 8 digits beginning with a # that correlate to a color.

Primary Red

#FF0000

Primary Yellow

#FFFF00

Primary Blue

#0000FF

orange

#FFA500

Green

#008000

Purple

#800080

Color Stories: The myths, legends and symbols behind how colors receive their names.

Indigo means Indian because the dye was imported from India.

A misspelling of the Medieval Latin word lazur meaning “lapis Lazuli.” Lapis is the Latin word for stone and lazuli is the Persian name of the stone and where it was mined.