Design 2 – Color & Layout Basics SBM 338 Lanny Wilke

Colors Primary and secondary Warm and cool Complementary or contrasting

Here are some common color wheels based on subtractive color and familiar colors like red, blue and yellow:

Color wheel with primary and secondary colors

Color wheel with primary, secondary and intermediate (or tertiary) colors

Another color wheel with primary, secondary and intermediate (or tertiary) colors

Secondary colors The secondary colors are green, orange and violet (purple). A secondary color is made by mixing two primary colors. Each secondary color is made from the two primary colors on either side of it in the color wheel.primarycolor wheel

Two colors on opposite sides of the color wheel, which when placed next to each other make both appear brighter. The complementary color of a primary color (red, blue, and yellow) is the color you get by mixing the other two (red + blue = purple; blue + yellow = green; red + yellow = orange). So the complementary color for red is green, for blue it's orange, and for yellow it's purple.primary color

Color Considerations Culture – know & respect cultural connotations Age Children – bright & solids Young – muted pastels & shades of gray

Class Working class – primary More educated – more obscure Gender Men – cool colors Women – warmer colors Trends

Color Terms RGB – primary colors – red, green, blue CMYK Cyan, magenta, yellow, & black The colors of a four-color layout PMS colors (no, that’s not what it means) Custom colors used by designers

Spot color The use of one or more colors in an otherwise black & white layout Ghosting An image is reproduced at less than 100% of the color density (watermarks)

Gradation The color shifting from a greater to a lesser intensity or completely fading as it moves across. Bleed Color or type runs to the very edge of the page.

Layout Basics Visual flow patterns Top-down Elements are centered. Z or backward S Logo in lower right corner Upper left to lower right – the shortcut

Layout Patterns Grids Dividing up the space using geometric patterns. Columns Chaotic (circus or field-of-tension) Alignment and proximity are the organizing principles

Building the Layout Edges The negative space of edges Gutter – where the pages are bound Blocks and shapes Used to organize elements in your layout Copy as graphic Copy body as a block or shape

On to Part 3 we go.