Visual Design Primer Part 3: Color Theory Basics

This is our third posting in our Visual Design Primer series looking at visual design issues and concepts that relatively new e-learning and multimedia designers can really benefit from.

We've looked at image and animation use and typography and font usage in the previous two posts. This post is the first of two on using color in your design process.

Color is the visual perceptual property corresponding to the categories called red, yellow, white, etc.

Color is derived from the spectrum of light, and it is reflected or absorbed, as it is received by the eye, and processed by the brain.

In this post, we outline a few of the most important color theory concepts.

Understanding color and color relationships will greatly assist you in an effective design process.

In the next post we'll look at ways to use color in your design thinking.

Qualities of Color, or Hue

In design, it's not enough to be able to know a color's name. Anyone who has ever tried to pick a paint color for the living room already knows that all reds are not created equal, for example.

There are a number of different qualities that we can use to describe color. The key qualities we most often need to think about are:

Chroma and saturation represents how pure or gray a color or hue is.

Intensity, luminance and value represent how bright or dull a hue is; how much light is reflected from the hue.

Shade and tint represent how much black or white is added to a color.

The image above shows how these different qualities affect how a color looks.

When we start to think in terms of these qualities, we're able to describe how and why one red is different from another.

The Color Wheel

To start thinking about the differences between more than one color, we need to understand the color wheel.

The color wheel is the primary tool used in color theory. Colors are arranged on the wheel according to their hue and relationship.

Understanding the color wheel will help you understand how certain colors relate to each other, and why they work well together - or don't!

The color wheel can be broken down into Primary colors, Secondary colors and Tertiary colors.

When talking about how colors relate to each other, we speak about Harmonious colors, Complementary colors, and Analogous colors.

Primary colors are the main colors that cannot be made from others but are used to create all other colors.

Secondary colors are those made when two primaries are mixed.

Tertiary colors are those made when primary and secondary colors are mixed.

Complementary colors are colors opposite each other on the color wheel.

Harmonious colors are colors that are next to one another on the color wheel or very close to it.

Analogous colors are located near each other on the color wheel and can be a pleasing combination.

Getting these color theory basics under your belt is important. You'll not only make better decisions on color use in your e-learning designs, you'll also be better prepared to work (and talk!) with graphic artists and other design team members.

Next post: Using color theory in design

Chris Van Wingerden is Vice President Learning Solutions at dominKnow Learning Systems

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