The Psychology of Color

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The Psychology of Color

• The How and Why of Color

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Color Attributes

• There are literally millions of colors, but they
  can be divided into just a few color families.
• And every color can be described in terms of
  having three main attributes hue, saturation and
  brightness.

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Hue

• Any pure color is referred to as a hue.
• Hue is identified as the color family or color
  name (such as red, green, purple).
• Hue is directly linked to the color's wavelength.

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Saturation

• Saturation, also called chroma, is a measure of
  the purity of a color or how sharp or dull the
  color appears.
• Saturation is the relative brilliance or vibrancy
  of a color. The more saturated a color, the less
  black it contains.

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Brightness

• Brightness, also called luminance or value,
  is the shade (darkness) or tint (lightness) of a
  color.
• Areas of an evenly colored object in direct light
  have higher brightness than areas in shadow.

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Tint vs. Shade

• A hue is a specific color red, green, blue.
• A tint of a color is made by adding white.
• A shade is made by adding black.

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Color Wheel

• Invented by Sir Isaac Newton.
• A tool for understanding color relationships and
  creating harmonious color schemes.
• The color wheel is divided into three categories
  primary, secondary, and tertiary.

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Color Wheel

• Primary colors are those that cannot be created
  by mixing other colors together.
• Secondary colors are those that are created by
  mixing two primary colors.
• Tertiary colors are those that are created by
  mixing a primary and secondary color together.
  For this reason they have two-word
  names.Example blue-green, yellow-orange, etc.

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Warm vs. Cool Colors
Warm colors appear larger than cool colors.
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Cool colors

• Cool colors range from blue to violet, the half
  of the color wheel with shorter wavelengths.
• Have a calming effect.
• Frequently used for backgrounds to set off
  smaller areas of warm colors.
• Used together, cool colors can look clean and
  crisp, implying status and calm.
• Bright cool colors generates more excitement than
  light, medium or dark cool colors.

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Warm Colors

• Warm colors range from red to yellow.
• On the half of the color wheel corresponding to
  the longer wavelengths.
• Warm colors are active, attention-grabbing and
  aggressive.
• They stimulate emotions, motivate and seem to
  come forward off the screen or page.

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Color Schemes

• Selecting color combinations may be based on
  several traditional color schemes. These are
• Compliments
• Monochromatic
• Neutral
• Analogous
• Low Intensity
• Split Compliments
• Double Compliments

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Complementary Colors

• Any two colors whose light together produces
  white are called complementary colors.
• Complementary colors in an image are pleasing to
  the eye. The colors seem to belong together.
• The most effective use of complements is to let
  one of them dominate by giving it a bigger area
  or a fuller saturation, while using the other as
  an accent.

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Complementary Colors

• Complementary colors lie opposite each other on
  the color wheel. They complete or enhance each
  other.
• When a pair of high intensity complements are
  placed side by side, they seem to vibrate and
  draw attention to the element.
• If the hues are of low-intensity, the contrast
  is not too harsh.

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Complementary Colors

• Intensity can only be altered by mixing a color
  with its complement, which has the effect of
  visually neutralizing the color.
• Changing the values of thehues, adding black or
  white, will soften the effect.

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Monochromatic Schemes

• A monochromatic color scheme uses only one hue
  (color) and all values (shades or tints) of it
  for a unifying and harmonious effect.
• You can change the value of a color by adding
  black (shade), or white (tint), or gray (tone).
• As white is added to a color it becomes higher
  in value (lighter).
• As black is added it becomes lower in value
  (darker).

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Monochromatic Colors

• Value is the relationship of light to dark.
• Values that are close together give the design a
  calm appearance.
• Values of pure hues as well as those of tints
  and shades create movement.
• Value contrasts show texture and provide an
  effective means of directing viewer attention
  in a composition.

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Neutral colors

• Contains equal parts of three primary colors -
  black, white, gray, and sometimes brown.
• When neutrals are added to a color, only the
  value changes.
• If you try to make acolor darker by adding a
  darker color to it, the color (hue) changes.
• Black and white are thought of as neutrals
  because they do not change color.

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Analogous Colors

• Colors that contain a common hue and are found
  next to each other on the color wheel. 
• Adjoining colors on the wheel are similar and
  tend to blend together.
• They are effective at showing depth.

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Analogous Colors

• Analogous color can be used to create subtle
  differences in an image or design by creating a
  peaceful and more harmonious feeling.

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Intensity

• Intensity is the Brightness or dullness of a
  color.
• A pure hue is a high-intensity color.
• A dulled hue, a color mixed with its complement,
  is called a low-intensity color.

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Triads

• A color triad is composed of three colors spaced
  an equal distance apart on the color wheel.
• The contrast between triad colors is not as
  strong as that between complements.

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Triad - Primary Colors

• Primary Color are rarely seen as a trio except in
  childrens products.
• Red and yellow, are popular in the USA for
  everything from fast foodto gas stations.
• Blue and red are also common, but are
  attractive only when separated by space.

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Triad - Secondary

• Colors created by mixing two primary colors to
  create a secondary color.
• Red yellow orange
• Yellow blue green
• Blue red purple (violet)

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Intermediate Triads

• Colors are created by mixing a primary and a
  secondary
• Examples
• red-orange yellow-orange yellow-green blue-g
  reen blue-purple red-purple

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Split Complements

• The combination of one hue, plus the hues on each
  side of its complement.
• Easier to work with than a straight complementary
  scheme because it offers more variety.
• Example red-orange, blue, and green.

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Double Complements

• Two hues and their opposites.
• Four colors arranged into two complementary color
  pairs.
• Scheme is hard to harmonize.
• If all four colors are used in equal amounts, the
  scheme may look unbalanced.
• Choose a color to be dominant or subdue the
  colors.

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Compositional Effects of Color Spatial effects

• Hues that are lighter at maximum saturation
  (yellows, oranges) appear larger than those that
  are darker at maximum saturation (e.g., blues and
  purples).
• Warm colors appear closer and cool colors fall
  back.

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Compositional Effects of Color

• A large shape or form appears to be heavier than
  a small shape. Several small shapes or forms can
  balance one large one.
• An object with a complicated contour is more
  interesting and appears to be heavier, than one
  with a simple contour. A small complex object can
  balance a large, simple object.

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Compositional Effects of Color

• Use highly saturated or high-intensity colors (a
  pure hue with no other colors mixed in) or busily
  detailed areas to draw attention.
• Highly saturated colors give the appearance of
  carrying more weight than less saturated,
  low-intensity or visually simpler areas.

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How Colors Effect Each Other

• Placing colors next to each other effect how we
  see colors and is a complex part of color theory.
• Red appears more brilliant against black.
• Red is somewhat duller against the white.
• Next orange, red appears lifeless.
• In contrast with blue-green, red exhibits
  brilliance.
• The red square appears larger on black than on
  other background colors.

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How Colors Effect Each Other

• The color of the surrounding color can affect how
  the color looks.
• The block in the center of the examples below are
  the same, only the background color has changed.
• Color is partially defined in our brain by the
  colors surrounding it.

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Sources of Information

• Write Design on-line
• http//www.writedesignonline.com/resources/design/
  rules/color.html