Basic colour theory is vital to anyone
involved in the design industry. Understanding basic colour behaviours plays a
key part in many design tasks; presenting, buying, styling, coordinating, selecting,
editing, analysing etc.
Hue – is the quality of the colour, used to
distinguish it from another
Value – is the light/darkness of the colour
Chroma – the intensity of the colour,
brightness and purity, or dullness and impurity
Tints – hues with white added are tints
Tones – hues with greys added are tones
Shades – hues with black added are shades
Primary colours
- red
- blue
- yellow
secondary colours
- blue
- green
- yellow
- orange
- red
- purple
Tertiary colours – are obtained by mixing
all tree primaries of a primary with a secondary colour
Behavior type
Harmonious colours – are those that lie
next to each other on the colour wheel. They sit easily together and graduate
gently.
Complimentary colours – adding a very small
amount of complementary colour to another subdues the intensity by dulling the
colour domain.
Discordant colours – are created by
reversing the natural order of colours e.g. red is naturally darker than
orange. If white is added to create pink, then the pink becomes discordant with
orange.
