COLOUR THEORY

COLOUR PSYCHOLOGY

Every colour has a different impact and creates a specific feeling in a human mind.
Colours Psychology/Impact

Purple Royalty, Mysterious, Nobility, Spirituality, Precious, Feminine, Prestigious, Luxury

Stimulates mind of opposite sex, Creates Attraction, Encourages Day-Dreaming

Orange Fun, Dynamic, Excitement, Enthusiasm, Energy, Warmth, The Sun, Attention Less intense &
aggression than Red, Calmed by cheerfulness of Yellow

Brown Wholesomeness, Earthiness, Simplicity, Friendliness, Dependable, Health, Solid, Reliable Warm Neutral colour,
it stimulates Appetite

Pink Feminine, Romantic, Charming, Sensitive, Innocence (Less violent and sweet side of Red) Large amount uses
create physical weakness in people

White Purity, Peace, Cheerfulness, Cleanliness (Doctors & Nurses), Innocence, Angels

Black Royalness, Comfort, Evilness, Serious, Mysterious, Sexy, Sophisticated, Rebellion, Conservative,
Mourning colour in Western Countries.
 COLOR EFFECTS/TERMINOLOGIES
Chromostereopsis
Chromostereopsis :
It is a visual illusion where the impression of depth is conveyed in two-dimensional color images.

• One color may jump out while the other color recedes.
• Only Occurs with specific color combinations, usuall y of red-blue or red-green colors, but can also be perceived
with red-grey or blue-grey images.
• Happens because of Shorter color Wavelengths (Blue & Green) & Longer color Wavelengths (Red).

CHROMOSTEREOPSIS CHROMOSTEREOPSIS CHROMOSTEREOPSIS

 COLOR EFFECTS/TERMINOLOGIES
CHROMOSTEREOPSIS

Which Square appears closer?

•For majority of people red appears closer.

Positive chromostereopsis: Red is perceived
to be in front of Blue.
•Negative Chromostereopsis: Blue is
perceived to be in front of Red.
COLOR EFFECTS/TERMINOLOGIES
CHROMOSTEREOPSIS (EXAMPLES)
 COLOR EFFECTS/TERMINOLOGIES
Color Illusions

Color Illusions: Technically, color is an

illusion created by our brain.

1. Checkerboard Illusion
In this illusion,
both block A and B are the same color.

It’s all because of color constancy, which helps the brain recognize objects regardless of the amount of light being
reflected. Cone cells in our eyes help us see color. Seeing that Square B is under a shadow, your brain assumes that
the square must be even lighter than it really is.
Achromatic: free of color,
without color,colorless.
Achromatic is used to
describe the absence of any
hue. Examples of achromatic
schemes -- black and white,
black and gray, gray and white,
or black, gray and white.
ACHROMATIC SIMULTANEOUS CONTRAST: SIMULTANEOUS CONTRAST
OCCURRING BETWEEN WHITE, BLACK, AND GRAY
BALANCE: ACHIEVING COLOR OR DESIGN STABILITY OR HARMONY;
BALANCE IS THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE VISUAL WEIGHT OF COLOR,
ELEMENTS, OBJECTS, TEXTURE, AND POSITIVE/NEGATIVE SPACE.
◦Afterimage, Negative: is anoptical illusion that refers to an image continuing to appear after exposure
to the original image has ceased. For example, prolonged viewing of a yellow square on a white
background can induce a bluish square afterimage on the surface when the yellow square is removed
from view. The afterimage is produced because the color receptors (cones) in the retina of your eyes
become fatigued when you stare at a particular color for too long. When you look away from that color,
the fatigued receptors are not working as well as is normal. Therefore, the informationfrom all of the
color receptors is out of balance and you see only the remaining colors as an afterimage.
Afterimage, Positive: by contrast to
negative afterimage, appear thesame
color as the original image. They are
often very brief, lasting less than half a
second. An example is the white spot
you continue to see after a flashbulb
goes off.

Aging eye: The eye's clear lens can

darken and yellow over time, which
can cause older adults to have
problems seeing dark colors
◦Additive Color System: the color system that uses light rather than pigment to create color. It is the system of
digital media and computer screens. The additive primary colors are red, green, and blue and are often
referred to by their initials RGB. It is called the additive color model because red, green and blue light are
added together in various combinations to reproduce a broad array of colors.
 ◦Color Blindness: more correctlycalled Color
Vision Deficiency, describes a number of
different problems people have with their
color vision. Color vision deficiency is
inherited and more common among men
than women -- about 8% of males and less
than 1% of females. This condition makes it
difficult to distinguish certain colors or
different shades of the same color.

CMYK COLOR MODEL: A SUBTRACTIVE COLOR MODEL USED IN COLOR

PRINTING. CMYK REFERS TO THE FOUR INKS USED IN SOME COLOR
PRINTING: CYAN, MAGENTA, YELLOW, AND BLACK (KEY).
◦Admixture: means the act of mixing or the state of being mixed. It also describes anything added; any
alien element or ingredient. When used in the context of color it often refers to similar colors with one
having a small amount of another color mixed into it. For example, the first swatch is gray and the second
an admixture with blue.
Chroma: Another word for color or hue; the amount of
saturation of a color.
Chromatherapy: The use of color for well-being or healing
purposes; a lighting system that uses the soothing
qualities of color to relax the mind and body
Chromatic: Relating to or producedby color.
Chromatic Gray: Grays that exhibit a subtle,but
discernible hue
Clashing Colors: two or more colors that feel
jarring, disturbing or unpleasant because they
have a garish, off-beat, energetic quality; this is
subjective since colors that one person finds
appealing might be considered clashing colors
by another. Also referred to as discordant colors
however while all discordant colors can be
referred to as clashing, not all clashing
combinationsare discordant.
Analogous Colors: are
colors two or more color
that are side-by- side on
the color wheel. To select
an analogous color scheme,
find any color on the color
wheel. Then, choose two
to four more colors directly
to the left or right of your
color without skipping over
any colors; also called
adjoining colors.
COLOR COMBINATION: IS A GENERAL
TERM USED TO DESCRIBE TWO OR
MORE COLORS OR COLOR
FAMILIES THAT ARE USED TOGETHER.

Color Palette: is a planned arrangement

or group of colors meant to be seen as a
whole; also called color scheme, color
plan or color composition alsocalled
colour scheme
Complement: the color positioned directly across the color wheel from
any color. Each hue on the wheel has only one complement, which is also called its
direct complement
Complementary Contrast: The interaction of one set of complement colors.
Color Spaces: Refer to the type and number of
colors that originate from the combinations of color
components of a color model. Examples include:
sRGB, CIE, HSB, Pantone, etc

Color Temperature: The warmth or coolness of a color

Cones: photoreceptor cells in the retina that are
sensitive to bright light and color. Cones give us our
color vision. They are concentrated in the center of our
retina in an area called the macula. There are three
types of cone cells: Red-sensing cones (60 percent),
Green-sensing cones (30 percent), and Blue-sensing
cones (10 percent).

Cool Colors: are colors that convey coolness to a

viewer; in reference to the traditional color wheel,
cool colors are green, blue, and purple/violet; and
warm colors are red, orange, and yellow.
DEUTAN OR PROTAN COLOR VISION DEFICIENCY: COLOR BLINDNESS DUE TO THE LOSS OR
LIMITED FUNCTION OF RED CONE (KNOWN AS PROTAN) OR GREEN CONE (DEUTRAN)
PHOTOPIGMENTS. THIS KIND OF COLOR BLINDNESS IS COMMONLY REFERRED TO AS
RED-GREEN COLOR BLINDNESS AND IS THE MOST COMMON TYPE BEING FOUND IN
ABOUT 6% OF THE MALE POPULATION

◦Diad: a color combination of two

colors that are separated by one
color on the color wheel, ex. yellow
and green or yellow-orange and
red- orange.
Earth Tones: This is a phrase that has
come to have several meanings. In the
broadest sense it includes any color
found naturally on earth and includes an
entire array of colors. It can also mean
any color that includes the natural colors
of the earth's ground, originally
containing clay, pigments creating colors
such as umber, ochre, sand, and sienna.
More generally,earth tones, may be used
to describe to any neutral or low chroma
color.
COLOR PROPORTION: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN
COLORS IN AN IMAGE OR DESIGN
High-Key: a set of colors or neutrals that range
from mid-value colors to white are called high-
key colors. A composition created using colors
with predominately light values is referred to
as high-key.

Hue: the purest and brightest form of a

color; a synonym for color
Intensity: The
brightness or
degree of a color’s
purity or saturation.
GROUND: THE BACKGROUND COLOR IN A COMPOSITION,
ALSO CALLED THE FIELD COLOR
Color Harmony: a satisfying
balance or unity of colors.
Harmony, Objective: a group or
arrangement of colors that
works according to established
color principles.
Harmony, Subjective: a group
or arrangement of colors that
does not necessarily follow
established color principles but
is pleasing to the viewer.
GRAY: ANY MIXTURE OF BLACK AND WHITE
GRAYSCALE: A FULL RANGE OF VALUES FROM WHITE TO BLACK
SIMPLIFIED INTO A GRADUATED SCALE.
INTERMEDIATE COLORS: A COLOR THAT IS MADE BY MIXING ONE PRIMARY
COLOR AND AN ADJACENT SECONDARY COLOR; EX. RED (PRIMARY)
AND ORANGE(SECONDARY) BLENDED TOGETHER PRODUCE THE
INTERMEDIATE COLOR, RED-ORANGE; ALSO CALLED TERTIARY COLORS.
Monochromatic:
monochromatic
scheme uses a single
color. In most designs,
a monochromatic
scheme includes a
combination of tints,
tones, and shades
from the same color
family together with
black, white and/or
gray. to add depth and
contrast.also called
monotone
◦Partitive Color: the result of two or more
adjacent colors mixed optically (in your eye and
mind) rather than physically mixing the colors.
A good example of this is how colors are
viewed on a television screen. If the screen
was magnified, it would show thousands of
individual pixels each with its own color. When
the pixels are intermingled our mind mixes the
adjacent colors creating new colors that are not
found in any of the individual pixels
Monochromacy: Complete color blindness where a person doesn’t experience
color at all and the clearness of their vision (visual acuity) may also be affected.
There are two types: Cone monochromacym, which is a rare form of color
blindness resulting from a failure of two of the three cone cell photopigments
to work. Rod monochromacy or achromatopsia is another type of
monochromacy that is rare and the most severe form of color blindness. It is
present at birth. None of the cone cells have functional photopigments.
Lacking all cone vision, people with rod monochromacy see the world in black,
white, and gray.
Optical Mixing:
When a field of color
is composed of small,
disparate points of
color, the mind fuses
the colors into a
comprehensible
whole
VALUE: REFERS TO THE LIGHTNESS OR DARKNESS OF A COLOR
AND DEFINES A COLOR IN TERMS OF HOW CLOSE IT IS TO WHITE
OR BLACK/ HIGH AND LOW ARE WAYS OF DESCRIBING VALUE.
THE LIGHTER THE COLOR, THE HIGHER THE VALUE; THE DARKER
THE COLOR THE LOWER THE VALUE.
WARM COLORS: ARE COLORS THAT CONVEY WARMTH TO A VIEWER; IN
REFERENCE TO THE TRADITIONAL COLOR WHEEL, WARM COLORS ARE
RED, ORANGE, AND YELLOW; AND COOL COLORS ARE GREEN, BLUE,
AND PURPLE/VIOLET.
METAMERISM: WHEN TWO COLORS APPEAR THE SAME UNDER CERTAIN LIGHTING
CONDITIONS BUT DIFFERENT UNDER OTHER LIGHTING CONDITIONS. YOU MAY HAVE
EXPERIENCED THIS AS TWO COLORS THAT APPEARED TO BE A PERFECT MATCH IN THE
STORE DON'T LOOK LIKE A GOOD MATCH WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE COLORS AT
HOME.
XANTHIC: OF OR RELATING TO A YELLOW OR
YELLOWISH COLOR.
Synesthesia: A perceptual condition in which
there is an involuntary blending of one or
more senses.

Tetrad Colors: a combinations of two

complementary pairs of colors with none of
the colors being adjacenton the color
wheel. Ex. Yellow, Purple, Green, and Blue
 COLOR EFFECTS/TERMINOLOGIES
Simultaneous Color Contrast

Simultaneous Color Contrast:

It is a phenomenon that happens when two adjacent colors influence each other, changing our perception of
these colors (more or less saturated, more or less bright).
 COLOR EFFECTS/TERMINOLOGIES
BEZOLD EFFECT (EXAMPLE)

Bezold Effect:

It is also a visual illusion, In the bezold

effect, a colored region changes its color
depending on the colors that encircle it.
COLOR EFFECTS/TERMINOLOGIES

Color Blindness: Color blindness occurs when we are

unable to see colors in a normal way. It is also known
as color deficiency. Color blindness often happens
when someone cannot distinguish between certain
colors. This usually happens between greens and reds,
and occasionally blues.