1. Graphic Communication
Colour Theory

2. Graphic Communication
Why it is important to consider which colours are being used in our graphics?
Because the meaning of colour impacts on all visual communications and it’s important to understand how colour is used. The right colour choice can convey the right message and evoke the desired response to any form of visual communication. Colour creates an emotional reaction.
In your work you will need to be able to justify your use of colour for various applications

3. The Colour Wheel What is a colour wheel?
A colour wheel is a visual tool that shows the relationship between primary, secondary, and tertiary colours.

4. Primary Colours
Yellow
Red
Blue

5. Secondary Colours These are made by mixing two primary colours
Green
Orange
Violet

6. Tertiary Colours
Made up of a combination of primary and secondary colours.
Yellow-Orange
Red-Orange
Red-violet
Violet-blue

7. Colours and Moods
Colours used in adverts and on the products we buy are determined by factors like the type of product and the target market.
Colour determines the mood of a design.
Particular colours provoke different feelings- choose colours wisely for your graphics, think about using combinations that work together from the colour wheel.

8. Red
Warm
Vibrant
Dangerous
Exciting
Active
Festive
Passion

9. Yellow
Warm
Sunny
Happy
Glowing
Bright

10. Blue
Blue
Cool
Elegant
Sophisticated
Formal
Classy

11. Green
Calm
Restful
Natural
Soothing
Fresh

12. Violet
Rich
Regal
Pompous
Elegant

13. Orange
Warm
Happy
Cheerful
Energy
Refreshing

14. Neutral Colours Greys Browns Natural Restful Elegant Calm Dignified
Earthly
Safe
Reliable
Elegant
Dignified
Reliable
Good

15. Black & White
Dramatic
Elegant
Opposing
Contrasting
Sophisticated

16. Advancing and Receding Colours

17. You are about to see two identical adverts apart from the background colour. What is the effect of using the two different colour schemes?

18. EAU DE TOILETTE

19. EAU DE TOILETTE

20. Advancing/Warm Colours
Advancing colours appear to come towards you when you look at them.
These colours are used to give a feeling of warmth to a drawing, or to make a room feel cosy or smaller.
They can also be used to show hot things as part of a symbol, like a red dot on a hot water tap.
Examples of advancing colours are:
yellow
orange
red

22. Receding/Cold Colours
Receding colours give an appearance of depth or distance.
These colours are used to give a feeling of coldness to a drawing, to make a room feel larger or to have a fresh appearance.
They can also be used to show cold things as part of a symbol, like a blue dot on a cold water tap.
Examples of receding colours are:
blue
green
violet

25. Contrast and Harmony
Contrasting
Harmonising

26. Harmonising Colours
Harmonising colours are beside each other on the colour wheel.
The following colours are harmonious:
Yellow & Orange
Red & Violet
Blue & Green

27. Contrasting Colours
Contrasting colours are on opposite sides of the colour wheel.
The following colours are contrasting:
Yellow & Violet
Red & Green
Blue & Orange

29. Hue
The word hue is what is commonly thought of as colour. This is simply the identification of say red, blue, yellow, green, etc.
The hue of a colour can be changed by mixing it with another colour.
It is estimated that most people with normal vision can differentiate approximately ten million different hues.
The colour value is lightness or darkness of a hue.

30. Tone
Tones are weak and strong examples of the same colour. The tonality of a colour can be controlled by adding black, white, grey or another colour.
This can be shown in the tonal scale.
Graded Tone
Flat Tone

31. Tint & Shade HUE (dark) SHADE TINT (light)
Tints are created by adding white to a colour.
Shades are created by adding black to a colour.
HUE
(dark) SHADE TINT (light)

32. (dark) SHADE TINT (light)
Saturation
Saturation or intensity is the brightness of a colour. As saturation increases, colours appear more "pure." As saturation decreases, colours appear more "washed-out."
(dark) SHADE TINT (light)
SATURATION (grey)

33. Exercise
In pairs, render the four different bottles from the worksheet, deciding on a product type for each and an appropriate colour scheme. These could be, for example, sun tan lotion, perfume, fizzy drinks cans etc. The product’s colour scheme should be based on: The colour can be as part of the bottle/packaging or included as part of the colour scheme of the whole drawing, i.e. as a background colour. Annotate your drawings to demonstrate your ideas.
Warm colours
Cool Colours
Contrasting Colours
Harmonising Colours