In our last blog, we talked about the significance and the true meaning of Color Theory. In case you have missed out on that blog, here is the link to help you get the knack of how colors work - The Art and Science Behind Color: Color Theory!. Here on, we will dive deep into the world of color to help you gain a deep understanding of how you can perfect your work as a designer.

Color Systems

1) RGB: Additive

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The additive color model allows you to create colors by combining Red, Green, and Blue light sources of variable intensities. If you combine all the three additive colors (Red, Green, and Blue) you achieve pure white light. This also is the base of all colors you see on digital screens. Here, white represents the combination of color while black denotes the absence of color. TVs, screens, or any digital equipment use RGB as building blocks, so when working on any digital element, use RGB not CMYK.

2) CMYK: Subtractive 

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The major chunk of colors you see on printed elements use the subtractive color model. This in simple terms elucidates that you subtract the light from the paper by adding more colors. Just like additive colors, subtractive colors have three combinations – Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow. These pigments don’t fully absorb light, so there is a need to add a fourth compensating element known as “Key” which is Black!

How is Color Theory important?

Let’s be real, Color plays an indispensable role in our world. From influencing people to making important decisions, colors even have the ability to stimulate hunger or raise your blood pressure. The list goes on and on. You may go anywhere in the world, and interact with a person of any ethnicity or culture, he will still relate to color the same way as you, the biggest example of this is a traffic light: Red means stop, yellow means caution, and Green means go! Likewise, developing business stationery or product labels requires extensive research of color and its significance. The prime importance of color theory is :

1) Visual Harmony 

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The color theory offers a basic skeleton for designers to choose color palettes for their artworks. If you want to present a tastefully designed artwork, you need to make sure your framework is sorted. From choosing what kind of colors you will go with to what combinations will be used heavily influence the nature of your artwork.

2) Symbolism 

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People who know the nitty-gritty of the color wheel can easily sculpt a masterpiece as they have a knack for the subject. You will notice a lot of cult brands using colors to their advantage, the biggest example being McDonalds. If you go out, you can probably spot a big yellow M in a 5-10 mile radius near you and you can immediately connect it to McDonalds. This in turn helps with expression and unlocks deeper virtues.

3) Emotion 

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Colors can make you feel some type of way. It evokes emotions, which is why you must have noticed how you feel a sense of calm when you see pastels and a sense of excitement when you see striking colors. This helps designers decode emotion to build images with the right intent. If I ask you at an instant, what emotions do you connect to the color gray? We are sure you would say old, dull, neutral. You can always use color to your advantage as long as you know the ins and outs of the color theory.

Top 4 Color Tools for Designers!

Let’s be real, Color plays an indispensable role in our world. From influencing people to making important decisions, colors even have the ability to stimulate hunger or raise your blood pressure. The list goes on and on. You may go anywhere in the world, and interact with a person of any ethnicity or culture, he will still relate to color the same way as you, the biggest example of this is a traffic light: Red means stop, yellow means caution, and Green means go! Likewise, developing business stationery or product labels requires extensive research of color and its significance. The prime importance of color theory is :

1) HueSnap 

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This is perfect for individuals who are on the get-go for color palettes. Let us give you a crux of what this tool does- Let us imagine you are in an art gallery and you like the color scheme of a particular painting. Well, you can just take a snapshot of it and let HueSnap extract the colors from the image to make a custom palette for you. Great, isn’t it?

2) Eggradients 

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Eggradients offers a multitude of aesthetic gradients for people to use. Each gradient is beautifully placed in an egg shape and comes with quirky names. Our favorite of the lot was Edison’s broken bulb!

3) Coolors 

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Whether you are a designer or a person who is just starting in the world of design, Coolors is your savior. It is a super fast color scheme generator and can enormously help you get inspired to create beautiful color palettes.

4) Digital Color Meter (Mac) 

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If you are an IOS user, this one's for you! With Digital Color Meter, you can drag and drop a color from anywhere on your screen, this will give you values for that particular color as a decimal, hexadecimal, or percentage. A bonus is that you can even copy the color as a text or image.

Conclusion:

So, now that you are well versed in the world of Color, write to us at design@interactivedigitalmedia.in on what your take on the Color Theory is. We would love to hear from you. Till then, we are working hard towards writing more insightful blogs for you so be on the lookout for our upcoming blog. Ciao!