Colour theory is a framework used to inform the use of colour in design on an aesthetic and psychological level.
Understanding colour theory will help us create colour palettes that create the right aesthetic and mood along with evoking the right emotion.
According to Sir Isaac Newton the colour wheel primarily consists of the following three types of colour -
Primary - These are colours that cannot be created by combining other colours. Red, blue and yellow fall under this category.
Secondary - These are colours formed by combining any two of the primary colours. Orange, purple, and green fall under this category.
Tertiary or Intermediate - These are colours formed by combining a primary with a secondary colour. Magenta, vermillion, violet, teal, amber, and chartreuse fall under this category.
The colour wheel houses more colours than the ones mentioned, it is because it involves tints, shades and tones which are a colour's properties and are discussed subsequently.
Hue - Refers to the actual colour (any one of the colours mentioned above). These are colours in their purest form.
Chroma - Refers to how pure a colour is. If it consists of black, white or grey then its chroma reduces whereas if it doesn’t contain black, white or grey then it has got a high chroma.
Saturation - Refers to how intense or bright a colour is. Increasing saturation makes the colour look rich and dark whereas reducing the saturation will make the colour look light and faded. If we take the tone of a colour for example then its saturation is reduced.
Value - Refers to how light or dark a colour is. The lightest colours are said to have the highest value. Black has the lowest value and white has the highest value.
Tint - Refers to the colour which results when white is added to the hue. Tint makes the hue lighter.
Shade - Refers to the colour which results when black is added to the hue. Shade makes the hue darker.
Tone - Refers to the colour which results when grey (in its purest form containing only black and white) is added to the hue.
Consists of three categories namely warm, cool and neutral.
Warm - Consists of yellow, orange or red.
Cool - Consists of blue, green or purple.
Neutral - Consists of brown, grey, black or white.
In general warm colours appear to advance or come forward. Whereas cool colours tend to recede or go backwards.
To summarise, in this article we covered colour wheel, colour properties and colour temperature. In the next article we will cover additive and subtractive colour models along with colour schemes that help in choosing harmonious colour palettes.
