Color Theory: Back to Basic

Color—or the absence of color—is one of the most impactful design tools. It can have a profound affect on how the message of your design is received and interpreted by the viewer, and, therefore, needs to be carefully chosen for the purpose of eliciting your intended response.

What is so interesting about the psychology of color is that it is dependent on several factors. While some responses to color are universal or subjective, others are strongly cultural. Knowing the culture of the audience viewing your design is very important when making color choices. 

As an example of cultural differences, let's use my favorite color: Red. In the Western world, red is used to symbolism passion, excitement, anger, danger, love, desire or heat (among other things). However, in India red symbolizes purity and is generally the color worn by brides. The Chinese, comparably, see red as a sign of good luck and happiness. So, while designing anything, from an image or scene of a story to a static road or industrial sign, the designer needs to know where and for whom the piece is to be displayed so s/he knows whether or not the use of red is going to effectively elicit the desired response.

A good infographic with more information on what colors mean in different cultures can be found here. 

Color theory is one of the initial topics covered in any artist's professional journey, but my (short) time in the "real-world" has taught me that the basics should routinely be revisited and reiterated. So, on this Labor Day night, I found myself on lynda.com watching the tutorial series Foundations of Color. In this series, the presenter shows several graphic representations of the color wheel. So, what did I do? I broke out my Prismacolor pencils and Sharpies ... Duh.