COLOUR THEORY

Mel Fee

What is Colour?

(Noun) • the property possessed by an object of

producing different sensations on the eye as a result of the way it reflects or emits light.

• synonyms: hue, shade, tint, tone, tinge, cast,  tincture

"the lights flickered and changed colour"

•  Introducing colour to the words changes the way that you read things, some even becomes painful. Illegible and hurts, it moves it wobbles it shifts. If you use colour use it responsibly, this is why its so important, if you get the colour wrong it ruins the design

• It covers such as spectrum, billions of variation of colour, we don't all see colour the same.

• The ability to perceive colour, is from the principle that different colours have different length and strength wave lengths. As light travels in waves, the different frequency of each wave shows different colours.

What effects can colour have?

• Blue...... is the colour of harmony and peace.

• Red....... is the colour of vitality, energy and aggressiveness

• Yellow.... is the colour intellect and creative energy.

Colours as seen in Nature

• And their application

Summer

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Autumn

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Winter

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Spring

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Colour communicates ambience, impact and atmosphere.

What is Colour ?

The Effects of Colour.• Colour is one of the most powerful tools available to the designer.• It can affect our emotions, our responses and the way others react

to us. Colour is everywhere – in nature and in the man made world around us.

• It is used to communicate information such as danger zones or identify eye conditions such as colour blindness.

• The physiological effect of colour in interior design is important to the Designer. The Interior Designer uses colour to create environments that have a certain ambience or impact, appropriate to the needs of the client.

• Colour is always planned, regardless of how “casually” finishes appear to have been thrown together.

• The ability to perceive colour is different colours have different length and strength wave lengths.

• As light travels in waves, the different frequency of each wave shows different colours.

THE PRIMARY COLOURS

PRIMARY COLOURS

RedBlue

Yellow

What happens when we start mixing them ?

SECONDARY COLOURS

Green Orange

Purple

RedBlue

Yellow

And mixing them further ?

TERTIARY COLOURS

Red

Red/Orange

Green/Yellow

Blue/green

Blue

Yellow

Blue/Purple Red/ Purple

Yellow/ Orange

Red

Purple

Orange

The Colour Wheel

THE COLOUR WHEEL

A VALUABLE TOOL FOR THE INTERIOR DESIGNER

WARM AND COOL COLOURS

A Colour wheel layout starts with yellow at the

top then runs clock wise to Red then Blue

Warm colours to cool

Advancing and Receding Colour Schemes

Warm Colour Scheme

Cool Colour Scheme

THE ATTRIBUTES OF COLOUR

HUE = the name for the actual colour

yellow blue red

THE ATTRIBUTES OF COLOUR

VALUE = the relative lightness or darkness

of colour.

◄ Tint Shade ►

THE ATTRIBUTES OF COLOUR

CHROMA OR SATURATION = the relative intensity of the colour determined by how little gray is added to a colour.

• Saturation is how much of a colour is present in its purest form.

• Look at different dimensions of this colour by desaturating it by pushing the blue towards the grey. Also you could push it through to black. The palest and the darkest is one dimension.

• You can push it towards a different colour by desaturating the colour by pushing it towards the violet, this removed the blue.

CHROMATIC TINTS AND SHADES

TONAL VALUES OF COLOUR• The estimated lightness of a surface colour. • A series of greys is imagined to run along a vertical axis

with a perfect black (value 0) at the bottom and a perfect white (value 10) at the top. The greys lighten – or increase in value - in steps that are subjectively equal. Colours of the same lightness as a given grey are assigned the same value and arranged in the same horizontal level.

• Synonyms: greyness, reflectance, tonal value, weight.

THE MUNSELL SYSTEM

Munsell System• The Munsell System as developed by Albert Munsell, is

a method of colour notation which allows one to accurately specify a colour and have it reproduced exactly. For example,if a group of students were asked to mix a rose-pink, they may all have a similar understanding of what rose-pink looks like, but would all mix a different pink.

• Using the Munsell system of colour notation, an identical rose pink can be mixed every time, simply based on hue, value and Chroma.

Colour Planning Considerations

1. Preferences2. Fixed Colours3. Juxtaposition Effects4. Lighting Effects5. Tonal Value6. Optical Effects7. Room Orientation

8. A Balance of Cool and Warm colours9. Architectural Features10.The Function of the Space11.The Balance of colour in an area of

space

Proportion of Colour

01020304050607080

SCHEME A SCHEME B

ACCENT

SUB-DOMINANTDOMINANT

Colour Schemes from the Wheel

COLOUR SCHEMESMONOCHROMATIC

Complimentary Colour Scheme

Yellow green/ Red Purple

Green & Red

Split Complimentary

Double Complimentary

Triad

Tetrad

Monochromatic with Accent

Double Split Complimentary

Analogous

Analogous colours( 3 or 4 with an accent) are groups of colours that are adjacent to each other on the colour wheel, with one being the dominant colour, which tends to be a primary or secondary colour, and two on either side complimenting, which tend to be tertiary.

What is the RGB colour Chart What is it used for?

The RGB colour model is an additive colour model in which red, green, and blue light is added together in various ways to reproduce a broad array of colours. The name of the model comes from the initials of the three additive primary colours, red, green, and blue.The main purpose of the RGB colour model is for the sensing, representation, and display of images in electronic systems, such as televisions and computers.

What is a CMYKColour Chat

• The CMYK colour model (process colour, four colour) is a subtractive colour model, used in colour printing, and is also used to describe the printing process itself. CMYK refers to the four inks used in some colour printing: cyan, magenta, yellow, and key (black).

• The "K" in CMYK stands for key since in four-colour printing cyan, magenta, and yellow printing plates are carefully keyed or aligned with the key of the black key plate.

The End