Sean Adams Color for Visual Communication Color Properties |1|

Sean Adams Color for Visual Communication Color Properties |2|

Color is subjective. Terminology is important.

Sean Adams Color for Visual Communication Color Properties |3| Hue

Hue
Hue is the overall
appearance of a set of
colors. The dominant hue
here is green, yellow, and
mustard.

Right
Mont Sainte-Victoire and the
Viaduct
of the Arc River Valley
1882–85
Paul Cezanne
H. O. Havemeyer Collection,
The Metropolitan Museum of Art

ArtCenter Summer 2019 Lecture

Series
2019
Sean Adams

London Underground to the Zoo

1976
Abram Games
Sean Adams Color for Visual Communication Color Properties |4| Hue

Hue
Hue is the overall appearance
of a set of colors. The
dominant hue here is sepia.

Right
Haircutting in Front of General
Store and Post Office, Mileston,
Mississippi
1939
Marion Post Wolcott
Sean Adams Color for Visual Communication Color Properties |5| Saturation

Saturation
Saturation is the intensity and
brilliance of a color.

Right
Mohawk Via Handbook
2008
Sean Adams, AdamsMorioka
Sean Adams Color for Visual Communication Color Properties |6| Saturation

Saturation
Saturation is the intensity and
brilliance of a color. The right
side of this illustration is more
saturated than the left.
Sean Adams Color for Visual Communication Color Properties |7| Value

Value
Value is the lightness or
darkness of a color. Here a
range of blue and green values.

Right
‘Vasarely II’ Cubism Blue Book
1970
Victor Vasarely

Battesimo della gente at

Chiostro dello Scalzo
1511–1526
Andrea del Sarto
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Sean Adams Color for Visual Communication Color Properties |8| Tone

Tone
Tone is the amount of
gray added to a color. The
wallpaper on the left has a
darker tone than the right.
Sean Adams Color for Visual Communication Color Properties |9| Warm Colors

Warm Colors
Warm colors convey warmth.

Right
The Designer’s Dictionary of Color
2018
Sean Adams

Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge

1919
El Lissitzky
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Sean Adams Color for Visual Communication Color Properties | 10 | Cool Colors

Cool Colors
Cool colors convey, yep, cool.

Right
Filmforum Features Series
1992
Sean Adams

Logo, Pan Am
1957
Charles Forberg & Edward Barnes

1919
El Lissitzky
Sean Adams Color for Visual Communication Color Properties | 11 |

Neutral Colors
Neutral colors appear to
have no color, or minimal
connection to a specific color.

Right
Hermann Scherrer
1915
Ludwig Hohlwein

Design Guild Meeting

1959
Louis Danziger

The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit

1955
Author: Sloan Wilson