NED12 Colour theory

Some reading to get through this weekend:

Digital Color Wheel
Colors on the Web
Color Theory

Colour schemes created via the colour wheel:

• Analogous - colours next to each other on the wheel, match well, no contrast - serenity, comfort.
• Complementary - colours directly opposite each other on the wheel - high contrast, vivid, stand out.
• Split complementary - combination of a colour with the analogous colours of its complementary on the wheel.
• Triad - three colours located at equal distance from each other on the wheel.
• Tetrad - four colours found at each corner of a rectangle or square placed on the colour wheel.
• Diad - two colours that are two colours apart on the wheel

Some terms to remember:

• Hue - another name for colour!
• Tint - a light colour created by mixing with white
• Shade - a dark colour created by mixing with black
• Value - increases according to the amount of black
• Saturation - the level of colour - full colour = vibrant

Types of colour:

• RGB - red green blue; additive colour scheme, uses the absence/presence of light to create colours, primary colours combine to create white.
• CMYK - cyan magenta yellow black; subtractive colour scheme, uses the absence/presence of pigment to reflect or absorb light, primary colours combine in equal amounts to create the appearance of black.

Effective colour combinations:
A school of thought believes the most effective combination is red, black and white, but the commonly used rule is to use three colours - a main colour, a similar secondary colour and a contrasting highlight.