Color

Fundamentals
Communicating
with Color

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What Is Color?
 Hue – is another term
for color and the two
words are used
interchangeable
“the visible spectrum”

Saturation – also referred to

as the intensity of color. Saturation
is the strength or purity of a hue
without the addition of white or
black
Saturation (Also Referred to as Chroma) A more saturated hue is stronger,
more vivid, and/or brighter. Duller colors are referred to as being desaturated.
A spectral color is a color that is evoked
by monochromatic light, i.e. either a
single wavelength of light in the visible
spectrum, or by a relatively narrow band of
wavelengths (e.g. lasers). Every wavelength of
visible light is perceived as a spectral color;
when viewed as a continuous spectrum, these
colors are seen as the familiar rainbow.
All colors that do not qualify as a spectral color
are called non-spectral colors or extra-spectral Laser beams are
monochromatic light, and
colors. Extra-spectral colors cannot be evoked therefore exhibit spectral colors
with a single wavelength of light, but rather by
a combination of wavelengths. Likewise, light
comprising several wavelengths cannot evoke a
spectral color.
Color Wheels and Models
Artists, designers, and scientists have developed numerous models to visually
compare colors and how they interact with other hues. These wheels or diagrams are
commonly used to show the relative relationships between particular hues.
Primary colors
include red, yellow, and
blue and are pure hues,
which are unrelated to each
other. By mixing the right
amount of primary colors, it
is possible to create any
color in the spectrum.
Secondary colors
include violet, orange, and
green. They are made by
combining equal amounts
of two primary colors.
Tertiary colors are
located between primary and
secondary hues on the color
wheel and have more of one
primary color than the other.
How a tertiary color appears
will depend on which
primary color is dominant in
the mixture.
Split complementary hues
refer to a primary color and
two secondary colors that are
located adjacent to the hues’
complement on the color
wheel.

Complementary hues are any two colors

located directly opposite or across from each other
on the color wheel. There are a total of six pairs of
complementary colors. Complementary colors have
a contradictory relationship with each other. A
color is both attracted to and repelled by its
complement. The push/pull of the complement can
be used as a way to attract a viewer’s attention.
Analogous combinations refer
to a primary hue and two adjacent hues
next to each other on the color wheel.
Analogous color combinations tend to be
harmonious because they reflect similar
wavelengths of light.

Triad harmonies are any three hues

spaced equidistantly around the color wheel.
Because primary and secondary colors are
equidistant from each other, they combine to
create triadic color combinations
 Monochromatic refers to variations of a
single hue that include tints (the hue plus white)
Tetrad combinations and shades (the hue plus black). Like analogous
are made up of four hues, colors, monochromatic color combinations are
which are sets of considered to be harmonious. This may be the
complements or split reason that one-color palettes are often so
complements. successful in design solutions