A few weeks back I wrote a two part article series about colour theory and in this article I will be covering 5 tips that will help you utilise colour better in your designs. If you are interested in reading the colour theory articles kindly click on the following links - Part 1, Part 2.
Having a limited colour palette helps bring a balance along with a clean and sophisticated look when compared to a design with multiple colours. Using multiple colours won't look visually appealing and will evoke a more cluttered and confused look and feel.
If you are having difficulty in using a harmonious and balanced colour palette the right way, then consider the 60 - 30 - 10 rule. It is a popular rule used by designers across various design disciplines such as interior, fashion including graphic designers to create a balanced and harmonious colour scheme. The rule states that a colour scheme should consist of three colours in the following proportions:
60% - dominant colour ; 30% - secondary colour ; 10% - accent colour
The dominant colour is the primary colour used in the design, and should be the most prominent and visible colour. The secondary colour is a complementary colour that supports the dominant colour and provides visual interest. The accent colour is a pop of colour that helps draw attention and add contrast to the design.
While designing it is important to keep in mind accessibility as your design should be able to communicate the intended message to all. Contrast plays an important role in accessibility and cannot be ignored.
Contrast in a design can be added in multiple ways such as through shape, texture, scale and size, spacing to name a few. However, colour is one important way through which contrast can be introduced in a design.
One of the most popular site used to check colour contrast is as follow - https://webaim.org/resources/contrastchecker/
Using pure black against pure white or vice versa causes eye strain. For example if we use pure pure black text on a white background, white has 100% colour brightness, and black has 0% colour brightness. Such high contrast leads to strain while reading text due to over simulation. To avoid the same consider using
dark grey instead.
The goal of a design is to communicate the intended message by evoking the right emotions and feelings. In order to achieve the same, using colours arbitrarily will not help as every colour has got a meaning associated with it. This is where understanding colour psychology plays an important role. However, keep in mind your target audience and their location as culture plays an important role in colour psychology.
Thank you for reading and I hope this article was helpful to you.
