Using Color

Simple tips for picking the right colors for any

design

By: Morgan Dungan

How to find the perfect color

Color is the single most
important visual element in
your design.

Before you begin any design

project you must first understand
color and how to work with it.

Colors are what send a message,

set the tone, and grab attention.

What are colors?

Primary Colors (blue, yellow, and red) are the only colors that
are not made from other colors. They combine with each
other to make the Secondary Colors.

Secondary Colors are halfway between the primary colors.

Each color is made from equal amounts of the nearest color.

Tertiary Colors fill in the remaining gaps. They are made from
equal amounts of the adjacent primary and secondary colors.

What colors look good together?

Selecting colors that will look good together can be difficult to
do.

One way to help select coordinating colors is to use a color

wheel.

A color wheel is a tool that helps you understand which colors

relate to one another.

Color Value

Color has darkness and lightness, or value.

The color wheel shows value with two big
rings for the dark shades and two small
rings for the light tints.

A shade is the hue plus black, and

a tint is the hue plus white.

Color Relationships
Monochromatic Colors
The dark, medium, and light values of a single color.
The colors are easy to design with, never clash, and
allow you to emphasize important elements.

These colors are often described as unifying and

harmonious.

Color Relationships
Analogous Colors
Adjacent colors on the color wheel that share strong
undertones such as blue, blue-green, red, orange, and
yellow.

They are rich, harmonious colors that are pleasing to the eye
and are always easy to work with.

These colors are often described as color schemes found in

nature such as a field of grass, a sunset, or an animals fur
coat.

Color Relationships
Complementary Colors
Colors that are directly opposite each other on the
color wheel like red and green, yellow and purple, and
in this case, blue and orange.

The complement is used in a smaller amount as an

accent.

The colors are often described as exciting and

pleasing to the eye.

Color Relationships
Split Complement Colors
To find the split complement colors, take the main color
and its complement plus the colors on either side of the
complement.

These colors include red-orange, blue, and green.

They are easy to work with and are subtle and effective
in creating a balanced approach.

Triad Colors
Colors that are equally spaced on the color wheel such as
red, blue, yellow, orange, green, and violet are known as
triad colors.

Red-orange and blue-violet are also included in triad

colors.

Color Relationships

Triad Colors
Triad colors offer strong visual contrast while retaining balance and color richness.
The triadic scheme is not as contrasting as the complementary scheme, but it looks more balanced and
harmonious.

Tetrad Colors
A tetrad represents the number four. Simply put you are
choosing a rectangle of four colors.

In any rectangular tetrad color palette, you have either

three sets of two primary colors combined with two
secondary colors or three sets of four tertiary colors.

Color Relationships

Tetrad Colors
Tetrad colors are the highest level color scheme and can be difficult to work with.
To make working with tetrad colors easier, try using a neutral shade of one of the colors.
A dark shade of any warm color such as red, yellow, or orange would make a great background color.

Works Cited
Before&After. How to Design Cool Stuff. By John McWade. 2010 by
JMS Publishing