Color Theory: Brief
Guide For Designers
The article focused on the basics of color theory and
color combinations in design: learn more about color
wheel, RGB, CMYK and models of color harmony.
Many people think the choice of colors for UI mostly depends on the
designer’s taste and sense of beauty. However, the process of color
selection is more complicated than it seems and plays a significant
role in design. In one of our previous articles devoted to color
psychology, we’ve found out that colors have a great impact on
our mood and behavior. That’s why the success of the product
depends largely upon the colors chosen for the design.
The research showed that it takes only 90 seconds for people to
make a subconscious judgment about a product and between 62%
and 90% of that assessment is based on color alone. So, the
appropriately chosen colors can be useful on the way of improved
conversion for your product as well as advance usability of the
product.
To create good design and employ colors more effectively, you
need to understand how colors are formed and how they relate to
each other. That’s why students at art schools, colleges and
universities study the science of color theory devoted to colors’
nature. Today, we offer you to remember (or maybe even learn) the
basics of color theory about the color combination which can be
effectively applied in your design creating process.
Color Wheel
If you had any lessons related to painting, you must have seen the
circle consisting of different colors. It is called the color wheel which
helps to understand how different colors relate to each other and
how they can be combined. The color circle is usually built of
primary, secondary and tertiary colors. The primary are those three
pigment colors that can not be formed by any combination of other
colors. Combining primary colors, we get the secondary ones, and
the mix of the primary and secondary colors gives us the tertiary
colors which usually have two-word names such as red-violet.
Additive vs subtractive
You should remember the major difference between these two
systems: additive is for digital screens and subtractive for print
media. If the design project you are working on is meant to be
printed, don’t forget the simple but crucial rule: colors you see on
the screen never look the same in print. The additive color spectrum
is wider than CMYK, which is the reason why designers are
recommended to convert their projects to the subtractive system of
colors before printing so that they could see the result close to what
they would get. However, if you work with digital products,
the RGB color system is the wise choice because it allows creating
amazing things with its wide color spectrum.
Color Harmony
The word “harmony” usually associates with something
orderly and pleasing. The color harmony is about the
arrangement of the colors in design in the most attractive
and effective way for users’ perception. When colors are
organized, viewers feel pleased and calm, while
disharmony in design gives the feeling of chaos and
disgust. The color balance is vital in design since users
make their impression of the website or application by the
first look, and colors have a big influence. Designers
distinguished the basic color schemes that work effectively.
Monochromatic
It is based on one color with various tones and shades of it. The
monochromatic harmony is always a winning choice since it’s hard
to make a mistake and create a distasteful color scheme.
To create analogous harmony, you need to use colors located right
next to each other on the color wheel. This type of color scheme is
used for the design where no contrast is needed including
the background of web pages or banners. The complementary
scheme is the mix of colors placed in front of each other on the
color wheel. This scheme is opposite of analogous and
monochromatic since it aims to produce high contrast. For example,
the orange button on the blue background is hard to miss in any
interface. This scheme works similarly to the previous one but it
employs more colors. For instance, if you choose the blue color you
need to take two others which are adjacent to its opposite color
meaning yellow and red. The contrast here is less sharp than in
complementary scheme but it allows using more colors.
