A Few Rules Of Thumb; Color Wheel - Xerox Fiery color server User Manual

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A-11 Desktop Color Primer

A few rules of thumb

Try some of the following strategies for creating successful color materials:
• Use color to aid comprehension, rather than applying colors indiscriminately.
In presentations, graphs, and charts, use color to highlight patterns and
emphasize differences.
• In general, fewer colors work better than many colors.
• Use red as an accent color. Red is particularly effective when used in otherwise
monochromatic materials.
• Consider the tastes of your target audience when choosing colors.
• Keep a file of printed color pieces that appeal to you or strike you as effective.
Refer to it for ideas when designing your own documents.

Color wheel

A color wheel like the one in the following figure is a helpful tool for understanding
the interrelation of colors. 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.