The 10 Rules of Colour

There really are no right or wrong ways to use colour.

Some processes and combinations work better than others, but there are many ways to achieve great results.

Here are 10 rules as a way to approach colour in order to e!ectively harness this powerful design element.

Convey Information.1.

Create Color Harmony2.

Attract and Hold Attention.3.

Remember Context is Everything.4.

Experimentation is the key.5.

Know People See Colour Di!erently6.

Assist in Mnemonic Value7.

Think About Composition.8.

Use Standardise Colour Systems.9.

Understand Limitations.10.

The right colour sends the right message

Colour has the ability to evoke a response, create a mood symbolize an idea and express an emotion.

Every colour has its own set of connections that convey information with the colour itself acting as a signi"er of ideas both positive and negative.

All colour meanings are relative; these interpretations are in#uenced by a variety of factors including age, gender, personal experience ethnic background history and tradition.

1. Convey Information

A$nity for the particular colours of a nation’s #ag or a sporting team shows how tradition nationalism impact colours response ...

1. Convey Information

Tapping Into Colour’s Associations:

All colour is relative, and people can have strong, often subconscious prejudices against certain colours and colour schemes. It is a designers job to select colours that elicit correct responses. They need to consider their audience who may read the design in terms of colour alone.. its not just an aesthetic choice. Gender counts: Males and females respond di!erently to colour.

Age is an important factor related to colour interpretation. Children and the elderly tend to go for bright, intense colours.

Teenagers like whatever their parents don’t appreciate!

In an experiment, groups of people were placed in di!erent rooms – one colourful and complex, the other grey dull and boring. The results showed stress and boredom in the grey rooms supporting the notion that colour causes both physical and emotional responses.

Designers need to leverage colour meaning to achieve their clients goals.

Colour has emotional and cultural dimensions that can enhance – or impede_ communication e!orts

The idea of ‘owning’ a colour is one of the highest priorities when in managing company branding and logos or corporate identities.

Orange has been associated with Nickelodeon for almost two decades, Cadbury own purple, Kodak are associated with bright yellow and red. The colour becomes a stand in for the mark itself, you think ‘Childrens Entertainment, chocolate and photography’ when you view these colours. Most clients relish the idea of having a colour alone that symbolises their company.

Using Proprietary colours to Convey Information

To a certain extent ‘Colour harmony’ is in the eye of the beholder, what is pleasing and harmonious to one person may not resonate with another.Nevertheless colour harmony is paramount to all pieces of artwork creating balance, variety, proportion dominance movement rhythm and repetition.

Designers need to select colours for each and every project carefully. Selecting inventive combinations of hues along with speci"c tints and shades is a practised skill – the more you do it the better you become.

2. Create Colour Harmony

Deliberate avoidance of harmony must be viewed as a means to create disruption or chaotic responses from the audience

The starting point for all choice on colour comes down to a creative interpretation of the message that needs to be conveyed.

What combination will best create the desired meaning?

If those colours are tired or clichéd what are the best alternatives?

2. Create Colour harmony

1. Figure out the purpose

2. Review colour basicsReview hue saturation intensity and the ways colours e!ect each other when juxtaposed.

3. Choose a dominant colour then accent coloursDecide on overall background or the colour allocated to the largest areas. Then select the colours that will best support the dominant colour

4. Select Shades, then vary themDecide which feeling should be conveyed light and cheery or perhaps serene and digni"ed.Note that colours of the same hue but varying shades and tints can work harmoniously together.Varying shades of hue create contrast of light and dark and can be e!ective and dramatic.

8 Rules for Building a Colour Palette

5. Look at compatibility of huesIs the contrast in colours pleasing? If not go back and re"ne the palette with intermediate hues. For example with green selected as the main colour perhaps red orange would work better than pure red (e.g. )

6. Limit the number of coloursTwo or three colours are normally enough. Four must be chosen with care while 5 might be too many. Sometimes budget constraints will limit your palette of colours but shouldn’t hinder your creativity

7. Put the colours into actionPut the colours together in use on a few typical pieces required by the client. Look at how they work together


8. Keep a logbookOnce you have found a colour palette that works, keep a journal of those colours. Colour chips with the job description and the clients name can all be catalogued for future use.


Shown here is a reference guide for creating pleasing colour harmonies.

Included for each of the hues of the 12-Step colour wheel is an example of a monochromatic, analogous, triadic and complementary colour scheme.

These samples can be used as a reminder of possible colour combinations when building a colour scheme.

2. Create Colour harmony

2. Create Colour Harmony

Colour can be used to attract a persons attention and hold interest.Colour can be used to irritate or relax, encourage participation or alienate.

The persuasive power of colour attracts and motivates

As humans we seek balance especially in terms of colour. For example when we are exposed to a particular hue (colour) our brains seem to expect the complimentary colour. If it is present the combination is vibrant. If it is absent our brains seem to produce it to form balance.

3. Attract and Hold Attention

Munker-White E!ect

Even though the blue bars are identical (see right) when surrounded by di!erent colours such as white or black, they appear to be completely di!erent hues.

This optical illusion also demonstrates a method of creating the appearance of more colours than there actually are.

MUNKER-WHITE EFFECT3. Attract and Hold Attention

A perceptual phenomenon that can add to colour composition in design especially in creating special illusions is called the transparency e!ect.

When two hues are mixed to form a third the resulting colour resembles both. If placed between the original two the new mixed hue will not only be harmonious but it will give the illusion of transparency.

The Transparency E!ect

Remember that colour is always seen in context. Sometimes the context is the proximity to another colour which alters the meaning or even the perception itself. Other times the context is the environment in which the colour is viewed.

The perception of colour is always shifting, never "xed.

All colours appear more brilliant when set against black.

Complementary colours make each other appear brighter.

4. Remember that context is everything

Optical colour mixing also referred to as partitive colour or simultaneous contrast is another important phenomenon.

Human perception mixes colour that is next to each other and forms a colour impression based on the entire composition.

The viewer may perceive colour that is not actually present.It is imperative that a speci"c colour is perceived "rst by the viewer.

Be sure to keep this in mind.

4. Remember that context is everything

The end use of the piece – its particular medium_ must be considered as well. A design for a retail environment involves di!erent considerations than a design for a television broadcast.

Retail product packaging colour is probably going to be viewed against its competitors in relation to other products if every other product in the category is pink or purple than maybe green is a better choice? The colour helps the product to stand out. This is an example of the context in#uencing the concept as well as creating an idea that is context speci"c.

4. Context: Environmental in#uences change colour perception.

Sometimes we need to break the mould and use unexpected colours to create standout

Context became inspiration for the Identity for SLADE GARDENS, a community adventure playground. Experiencing the park, designer Ian Childers noticed his children dressed in bright red clothing enjoying the elaborate green structures.

This observation resulted in the logo and its signage application.


Experimenting with colour is a way of challenging a designer’s imagination and often results in a variety of unexpected solutions.

Whether through changing contrast, volume, and proportion stretching conventional notions of harmony or altering colour temperature – new dynamics of colour interaction are always possible.

5. Experimentation is the key

Allowing one colour to dominate in contrast to the others focuses attention on design elements in that colour and allows them to communicate a distinct message.

Experimenting with the amount of each colour used can provide interesting results.

A small amount of a dark colour can dominate a larger area and a small amount of warm colour can dominate a larger area of cool colour light.

Experimenting with colour allows you to develop a keen eye for colour interactions and what works best.

5. Experimentation is the key

Colour vision is a result of the way our eyes and brains interpret re#ected light.

Not everyone interprets colours the same way and some people su!er from colour blindness – remember the family from Sydney trying to choose a colour palette for their house??

Physical factors are one way that people see colours di!erently another is technological.

6. People see colour di!erently

Colours of course read di!erently on a computer screen or a television than on the printed page. Pure RGB light appears di!erent to re#ected light (CMYK Colours may also appear di!erent to screen because the screen is not correctly colour calibrated. The most common form of calibration aims at adjusting monitors and printers for photographic reproduction. The aim is that a printed copy of a photograph appears identical in saturation and dynamic range to the source "le on a computer display.

This means that two independent calibrations need to be performed:


One of the most important aspects of color management is monitor calibration. If the color isn’t right on the monitor, coming up with accurate digital output is almost impossible. There are many devices available for monitor calibration.

The printer needs to match the computer display.

So when we say that people see colour di!erently there are a varety of issues that need consideration when designing.


Designers can alter colour perception deliberately for artistic and semiotic reasons.

When a colour is the real and actual expected hue, it is called a LOCAL COLOUR.

If it is unexpected or abnormal it is called an OCCULT COLOUR.

For example an apple rendered in blue would be an occult representation. This blue apple would cause the viewer to question why this familiar object is depicted in an unusual way and would grab their attention for longer.


The word mnemonic comes from the greek word mnemonikos which means ‘mind’

Colour can help with meaning and being the deciding factor as to whether something is memorable or not.

Colour is memorable. Market research indicates that more than 80% of visual information is related to colour.

7. Assist in Mnemonic Value

The following examples utilize colour in a mnemonic way.

Yellow orange is used on the cover to signal that ‘unstuck’ is a departure from a traditional business information book – making it memorable.

In the US green is associated with money, making it a perfect dominant colour for a book titled ‘Naked Economics’

Assist in Mnemonic Value

The ‘Less Equals More’ and the ‘More Equals More’ promotioal brochures for this paper company both feature a near-complimentary colour palette.

Assist in Mnemonic Value

‘Yellow in London’ avoids the notion of traditional British national colours – red white and blue to mirror a foreigners unconventional perspective on the city.

It is memorable because it is unexpected.

7. Assist in Mnemonic Value

Colour can be used as a visual linking device to build balanced and e!ective compositions.

Colour can be used to make the eye travel, comfortably or not, and pick up information in a design.

The echoing of colours is a kind of repetition that brings unity to a composition.

Di!erences in the scale and proportion of a colour can create a focal point in a design composition.

8. Think About Composition

Symmetrical Balance

This is achieved by mirroring almost identical elements in a composition.This poster achieves movement through the repeating shapes of the orange clouds that surround the white focal point of the twin towers.

Think About Composition

Radial Balance

A composition balanced around a focal point.The complimentary colours add punch to the design.


Asymmetrical Balance

Also known as Occult balance, asymmetry is the most emotionally active form of compositional balance. Dissimilar events with no clear centre point are pulled together to create a pleasing ‘o! centre’ unity


Increasingly we work across several media, including print, online, broadcast, packaging and environment. Consistent colours are managed through the use of standardised colour systems.

PANTONE®

For special inks on paper, designers use the PANTONE® matching system. Most graphic software systems computer monitors and ink jet printers include palettes and simulations that correspond to these standard colour systems.

9. Use Standardised Colour Systems

SWOP

O!set Lithography is a four colour process where layers of CMYK are applied to paper surfaces in a dot pattern.Standardised process colour guides which show percentages for each of the CMYK values are available in SWOP, a printing standard used in the US and Asia. EURO is used in Europe.Colour systems o!er speci"cation guides in a variety of formats, including tear o! chips and fan style guides.These guides also show what the colour looks like on coated and uncoated stocks.


Posters where photos are rendered as monochromatic outlines set against a single "eld of one of HP’s corporate colours.

Spot colours like these can be consistently speci"ed using the PANTONE® Colour system to get an exact match.


Working with #uorescents can be tricky. Here they have been used as an undercoat layer for four colour images as well as big full-bleed colour blocks.

Standardised guides are also available for #uorescent inks.


These HUGA T-shirts required a consistently produced colour across the range. Standardised speci"cations for colour formulas for silk screen inks make this possible and can be guaranteed if the same ink manufacturer is used for all products.

PANTONE® coated colour chips are often used for specifying colours for silk screen printing.

Use Standardised Colour Systems

“ Limitations motivate creativity”

Sometimes budget constraints are a limiting factor in a design job.

E!ective colour use can provide impact and beauty on a limited (one or two colour) job.

Rhodamine red is used in positive and reverse colour formats on this project to limit costs. The white of the paper stock is used to great advantage.

10. Understand Limitations

A black and red colour palette is utilised here and it is interesting to see the variety of graphic results using the same set of colour limitations.

Understand Limitations

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The 10 Rules of Colour

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