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Working with Color
A color wheel is a helpful tool for understanding the interrelation of colors.
Color wheel
The colors on one side of the color wheel, from magenta to yellow, appear
to most people to be warm colors, while those on the other side, from green
to blue, appear to be cool. The distance between two colors on the color
wheel can help predict how they will appear when seen side by side. Colors
opposite one another on the wheel are called complements, and create a
striking contrast side by side. This can be the basis for a bold graphical
design, but it is an effect you should use with discretion since it can be
visually fatiguing. Other bold combinations to consider are split
complements (a color and the two colors adjacent to its complement) and
triads (three colors evenly spaced on the color wheel). Colors adjacent to
one another on the color wheel result in subtle harmonies.
The color wheel simplifies color relationships for the purpose of clarity,
showing only saturated or pure colors. Adding the myriad variations of each
hue to the palette (more or less saturated, darker or lighter) creates a
wealth of possibilities. Taking a pair of complements from the color wheel
and varying the saturation and brightness of one or both colors produces a
very different result from the pure complements. Combining a light tint of a
warm color with a darker shade of its cooler complement often gives
pleasing results. Combining a darker shade of a warm color with a light tint
of its cooler complement produces an unusual effect you may like.
Once you have mastered the concept of the color wheel, you have a good
framework for experimenting with color combinations. Many books targeted
at graphic designers show groups of preselected color combinations. Some
are organized by themes or moods, and some are based on a custom color
system such as PANTONE. The more you develop a critical facility for
judging color combinations, the more you will be able to trust your own eye
for color.
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