Visual Design Primer Part 4: Using Color Theory in Design

In our previous post we looked at the basics of color theory.

In this post we'll look at ways to put that theory to use in our designs, by understanding how to combine colors effectively and how to use color to help us communicate ideas to our learners.

Color Combinations
Good design is about choosing the right colors to represent what you are trying to convey.

Colors are often used in combination, so understanding how people perceive color combinations is important.

Successful color combinations can be represented through an extended color wheel which includes shades and tints.

Color relationships can be:

In general, you will pick one of these color relationship types and use it as the basis of your overall design, from the big picture aspects such as background color and navigation layer color to the more subtle course visual elements such as button colors and the use of color for some text elements such as page headers, for example.

Color and Contrast in Design
Contrast is the most important element in design: you can achieve contrast through color, scale, texture, shape, and weight.

The ability to clearly see the subject or words in a design is good legibility, and legibility is a function of contrast. Light type can be placed over dark backgrounds between 35 and 100 per cent in contrast, and dark type can be placed on a light background between 0 and 35 per cent contrast.

Itten's Color Contrasts
In his book The Art of Color, Johannes Itten describes methods for color combinations using contrasting properties of hue.

Itten's color star did not recognize magenta or cyan as primaries, but his book summarizes most other color knowledge to date.

Through his research he developed seven color contrasts for coordinating colors by using the hue's contrasting properties.

He learned that contrasts may be obtained by light, moderate, or dark values.

This image shows Itten's seven color contrasts.

Of course, there is one other aspect of designing with color that should always be considered, and that is how color can affect your audience. This is a huge subject to begin understanding, but here's a good place to start.

Next post: Web resources to help you learn more about visual design

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