‘Apparent Colors
Colors derived fom ight, ithe natura or arti
With tle gh te ono colar present
‘With lot of ght comes Lots of oo, Strong ight
produce intense coo.
Singin color
Our eyeshave thre types of eoloreeptor cel,
cones: re greer, and blue. Asa esl al
incoming itis edued to these thre colors. Al
perceived colors ae generated bya mixture of these
twee cols. However, not evry color canbe seen
‘byhumans; thos that an are therefore called the
vise specu. People can distinguish approxitely
10 milion colors this vise spectrum isalled the
uma colar space ot everyone's coorsensing cls
rerpnd alike, sentation fa pecs
colori igh subjective
‘he study of colors where at and since meet,
with numerous theories from oth dsiplines coming
int play. 1ecan thse difeut to comprehend. To
understand colar prception, we ned to understand
the physi of ah, which causes and affects ur
ideas of primary coos,
Primary olrs
‘There ate two types of primary color adv and
subtractive. As noted, cur ees have ed, geen,
nd Bue (RB) clo receptors RB aze the primary
‘oles of pe ight and ate eee toa date
pwimary colors. The ubracive primar cols,
ade rom feted ight, ale two ype:
the printers primaries, which re yan, magenta,
aad yellow CH), ad teats primaries, whieh
sree yell, and blue (YB). Ast eimai,
‘ovgh nonslentif ae used asthe bass for
mst color teary (chapter to),
Designers lie al thee types of prinary clos
‘They select colors using YB and color theories,
‘Then they generate layouts on computer sceens
in RB, and then perhaps translate ther nto ink
on paper with CHY-—pus or ack—to form
the CHYK of fourcolor process lithography.
‘basal The RB Pines eh)
‘gent neater aie priate
ela wht gt produced Ts, hte
ovens Wecl hem aaivedeause
loge thes primase whe,
Fae actn bmn correc4 sutacve Clo The CMY Primes
(rampart Pome)
(hve) -and ne rier
get, (CHY) sparks
Subtractive Mixing (RYB Model
| sotoncte calor Tee
| (opaueiens)
(bul) an ta on ylThe Properties of Color
‘Whether sing the ative or subtractive primaries,
cach oar must be described in terms ofits pial
opeties. These properties are independent of
each othe, and each one must be measured ot
Aefinod in oder toflly describ the clr. Scientific
Aescitions of clo, or clrimetyinvave the
specfeaton ofthese color properties in either a
subjective or objective system of measurement. The
subjective system describes colorin terns of hu,
saturation, and brightness (HSB), wile the objective
‘system menses the dominant wavelength, purity,
and luminance of cols,
‘ives th common name ofa cla thatindiates
its postion nthe visible spectrum oon the colar
eel. Huei determined by the specific wavelength
of the color ina ray of ight. he description of hue
‘an be made more precise in comparison tothe next
‘nv (eg a certain bie might be move accurately
called blue geen). Satuation refers to the intensity,
strength, purty oF ceoma—the absence of Back,
‘uit, gray—in clr. Aviv oar has high
ofl saturation, whereas dl one ie desaturated.
Saturation isa measure ofthe riches of cola.
Brighness,orvaue, isthe relative degre of ight
‘ess or datknes of clots fective quality
blanc, A clorcan be mace nario described
as ele gt or dark (ight Bue oda Be).
‘he bightes ofa cular changed by mixing it with
‘ute (fom ain or with lack (a form a sha)
‘in varying proportions. Graphic design software
rogram have tools or varying the HSB of les
Objective color notation was devtoped by the Ca
lilo Internationale de UElaage (CE) to provide
mathemati model for esting enor. The CIE
(Gn Eels, the Internationa Commision an
‘Muminaton isan iternatonl techn sie
tif and eultaral nonprofit omanization that ets
“standards on the scence aadat of lighting, visio,
and clorimetry. Though CE notation isnot use,
by designers it underpins ele management in
oder digital devices.
bint tory When weed
bighethevae sigh on he
‘esting slexstuaed. Aing lth
tothe etna dred srt he
py Sade he stations wee,
bathevaie unhanre> ecceecebe used to create harmo color combinations.
These ideas are represe
color wheels, triangles,
understand color intera
din a variety of diagrams—
charts that help designers
ions, select and combine colors,
and construct pleasing and effective palettes.Diagrams suchas this color wheel, which shows pure hues a well as
tints and shades, serve as a guide for selecting and combining colors
beyond the pure hues, Different color theory diagram have diferent
‘purposes. Some are simple and some are complex, but all ae useful
references when thinking about color and choosing color palettes* corte
ABrief History of Color Theory
‘Woofer this rit acount to familiarize designer withthe
alo color theorists and thelr significant findings We encourage
further exploration ofthis top to gain a deeper understanding
of olor theory,
Since ancient times, colar theortshave developed nd iter
etations of enor eationships. Attempts to formalize an ecognine
der date back atleast to Arisa (384-322 BCE) but began in
mest with Leonard da Vin (1452-1518) and have progesed
ver ce, Lana ote that etal cols en each the,
‘sonerng cour complementary clas. he fst oar whee.
as vented by Ba’ Sr ae Newton (1542-1727), host
whe gk into ed, range, yew eee, be, Indien and vile
‘beams the oa the toed ofthe specu to form a le
Sori the tural progression of alors. When Newton created
the clo hel, he noticed that bing two clo fram oppeite
peta produced a newt r anonymous oa.
Moye than a century ates, while studying the pyehoogal
effet of eolr, Germany’ famed pet and playwright abana
‘Wallgang von Goethe (1749-1832) furthered colar theory Goethe
Aivided all colors into two groups. On the plus side he put the
warm clos (ed to orange to yellow) and on the mins sie the
‘ool eal (green to ue to violet. He noted Ut ele on the
Plus side produced excitement in viewers, wile he aoa
the minus colors with unsettled feelings. In 1810 Goethe
published ur arene (ory of Cl) in which he disagreed
with Newtons conclusions about color. He bev that scien
tic approach lone did not enabe one to fully understand oor
Goethe's observations ofthe human perception of clr rather
than just the physics of ight, allowed him to discover important
aspects of color theory, ncuding simultaneous contrat and
Colrs relationship to erection.
Luis Prag (1826-1909) was an inftuertipioneer f American
chromoithographs anda nated educator whose 1876 book They
of aor beet popslrie the theory of ed, yllow, ad ue
primary colarsin American art education Will Ostwald
(0353-192), a Russian-German Nobel Prize-winning chemist,
Aeveloped a color system elated to pychologial asmany and
‘der inthe 196 ie abel (The oo Prine). His ides about
Color harmony iftenced future olor theorists andthe Dutch
fe Silat movement (seepage 10),
‘Many measurement systems, but all color
theory has one goal: to explain color
relationships with an aim to create harmony.
‘The next major set of theories ames from the Bauhaus, he
‘highly in uential German art and desig schoo (1919-1655) that
focused onthe integration of art and industry, encouraging an
‘ideology of functional design. Bauhaus member Johannes ten
(18-1067 wae a Swiss color and at theorist wha developed coor
‘ards and madi the color hel Iter olor wheel is based on
a primary Wiad of ed, yellow, and ue and indes twelve hus.
He tue color in terms af both design and scence, and his
cexperinents with Ught waves explored cla lationship and
sual effets, Following Goethe's lan, Iten delved into the
syelogcal and spitua aspects of cola His most important
‘rok, The Arf Cl is summarized in hls ease called te
‘The Elements of Clr ten’ theories stil form the core of mast
at school colt information, Te Geeecoarange
‘son eooatet ante
Joel Alber (1868-1976) studied under ten and alsa taught at | besa oe
Uterine. Theta
primers ei
Snceace)aearangede
hetero thee
dar ples tn
te) andra
SSrandsoee
lnctoemetin de
sing denonntesthse
the Bauhaus ls abstract art used mathematical proportions
to achleve balance and unity. After immigration tothe United
‘ates, his teachings at Yale Univer ld to his Book tration
of olor, a erucal text ancl theory. Albee focus ison what
happens when clos interact, and his experiments are a esource
for creating subte color compositions. aber Biren (1900-1988)
explored the celationship between color and expression. Hs
restarch helped aif the histori development ofthe tae
color syste,
The Amen art lr Hansel (68-98) reated a ew
{Seve cw Amen cs per ac (890), ‘evens
and German painter Philip Otto Runge (1777-1810) to develop a Sei iecene
ttoedimenon cor moll tat dance ltrs, Sm MC
betwen lpm huss la int ad shades Most ane
imo eatin as tht he use hs se mere
trove an ters ecco iere whe
Croton Mists wk mas epee is
{sister and nag sae
trecdopre nein eC Camerata
setteaie
Artists, scientists, and schlas continue to contribute to olor
‘theory, a yamic and fascinating subject.shows awhel i,
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minigame Rent
‘ete.yeryelon ee)
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mem SDE‘Sucesfl color elatioships can be fered to
One of the best tools for visualizing color relationships is the color wheel.
This wheel, originally developed by Sir Isaac Newton, can be constructed “i Mmonie! wists hey consi of
with just a few colors, or can be quite complex incorporating many color (Mur wens eam
variations. Pethaps the most useful version is the twelve-step color wheel gr iter subj to penonal teen. owner,
containing twelve equidistant pure hues, as shown below. ‘he stu of aan design hs given us sae
spect coer theres, o guiding eines, that
s“colorharmonie,” Whether they consi of sia
ttn us make effective decisions about elo usage
We recommend the ws ofthe clo wheel called the
‘bration Artist Primary Clore (YB), because
picking coors is easiest with this set of primaries,
he color whee wil pt select elo combinations
hat balance each other. This blance ares ofall
he colors ina chosen composition dng up to gray
fe reultwileaze
cor neutrality, nthe ee/brin 7
he wart just fel ight” tothe viewer.
‘coor by tet will an emotions nd physica
rerpone, but the nate ofthe reponse canbe
altered by placing itincontert with ne or more
colors. Color perceptions shift dyranically when
aligned with other ola Designers can vary oot
combinations to reduce elatonships that ze
edo eortzating and therefore can affect
ewer impression,
Cre) (Gem) Cem)Couto