Understanding the possibilities and

complexities of designing and printing in color.

Color

Color choice is critical to good design--whether it is the printed page or web page.

It may well be the most powerful design tool because it communicates so effectively.

Communicating with Color

• Colors create feelings and generate emotional responses in readers.– Black--classic, strong, mysterious, shows

authority– Blue--peaceful, dependable, quiet, loyalty,

productive– Brown--wholesome, rich, home-like, stable, rustic– Green--soothing, refreshing, healing, natural,

fresh– Neutral--classic, quality, natural, timeless, quiet

Communicating with Color

– Orange--sharp, friendly, hot, energizing, inviting– Pink--happy, sweet, romantic, youthful– Purple--sensual, elegant, regal, spiritual,

mysterious– Red--exciting, dynamic, appetite stimulant– White--pure, bright, innocent, clean– Yellow--harmonious, warming, sunny, splendor

Color Tips

• Consider your audience• Use colors appropriate to the topic• Consider color contrast with your

background color; older viewers need higher brightness levels to distinguish colors

• Use color consistently across the project

Color Tips

• Verify that the colors you use look okay on different projection methods.

• Be sensitive to the fact that colors mean different things in different countries and regions.

Culture--Red

• China: Good luck, celebration, summoning• India: Purity• South Africa: Color of mourning• Eastern: Worn by brides, happiness and

prosperity• Western: Excitement, danger, love, passion,

stop, Christmas (with green), Valentine’s Day• Psychology: Stimulates brain wave activity,

increases heart rate, increases blood pressure

Culture--Orange

• Ireland: Religious (Protestants)• Western: Halloween (with black), creativity,

autumn• Psychology: Energizes, stimulates appetite

Culture--Yellow

• Cherokee: Trouble and strife.• China: Nourishing, royalty• Egypt: Mourning• Japan: Courage• Western: Hope, hazards, coward, weakness• Psychology: Energizes, relieves depression,

improves memory, stimulates appetite

Culture--Green

• China: Green hats imply a man’s wife is cheating on him, exorcism

• Ireland: Symbol of the entire country, religious (Catholics)

• Islam: Perfect faith• Eastern: Eternity, family, prosperity, peace• Western: Spring, money• Psychology: Soothing, relaxing mentally and

physically, helps with depression, anxiety and nervousness

Culture--Blue

• China: Immortality• Iran: Color of heaven and spirituality,

mourning• Eastern: Wealth, self-cultivation• Western: Depression, sadness, conservative,

corporate, "something blue" bridal tradition• Psychology: Calming, lowers blood pressure,

decreases respiration

Culture--White

• China: Death, mourning• India: unhappiness• Japan: White carnation symbolizes death• Eastern: Funerals, helpful people, children,

marriage, mourning, peace, travel• Western: Brides, angels, good guys,

hospitals, doctors, peace (white dove)

Culture--Black

• Thailand: Bad luck, unhappiness, evil• Eastern: Career, evil, knowledge, mourning,

pennance• Western: Funerals, death, Halloween (with

orange), bad guys, rebellion• Psychology: self-confidence, strength, power

Colors can vary . . .

• Human perception; the way each person sees color can vary

• Colors can vary depending on which color is by its side or how the light hits the page/screen

• Monitors vary• Home printers often do not have the same

color range as professional printers

Colors can vary . . .

• There are millions of printable colors and only 216 web-safe colors;

• Even when using professional printing services, colors can differ because there are different printing processes

• Monitors and printers create color differently

Monitors vs. Printers

• Color selection is complicated by the difference in the way monitors and printers create color– Monitors use a process known as additive color– Printers use subtractive color

Additive vs. Subtractive

Additive (Monitor)• Additive color starts with

black and adds red, green and blue to produce white

Subtractive (Printer)• Subtractive color starts

with black and removes cyan, magenta, and yellow to produce white.

RGB vs. CMYK

RGB• RGB is additive color• This is the color model

used by monitors and televisions

• RGB stands for red, green, blue

• Colors range in value from 0-255

CMYK• CMYK is subtractive color• This is the color model used

by inkjet and laser printers• CMYK stands for cyan,

magenta, yellow, and black• These colors are also known

as process colors• Varying percentages (0-

100%) of each color are used to reproduce color

Spot Color vs. Process ColorPRINTING

• Process color uses four colors of ink: cyan, magenta, yellow, and black to produce all colors

• Typically used when – printing photographs

or multi-color graphics

– more than two spot colors are needed

• Spot colors uses specially mixed ink to create colors

• Typically used when– limited number of

colors are in the publications

– vibrant colors are needed

– special effects (metallic, fluorescent) are required

Professional printing services use spot color or process color.

Color Theory

• Color theory is understanding the relationship of color--often based upon the specific location on the color wheel– Color wheel: a visual

representation of colorsarranged according to their chromatic relationship.

http://www.brigantine.atlnet.org/GigapaletteGALLERY/websites/ARTiculationFinal/PDFfiles/ColorGuide.pdf

Color Schemes

• A color scheme is the choice of colors used in the design of publication

• Colors are combined to create a particular mood, image, etc.

• Example: – Bright colors create a festive mood– Neutral colors create a calming mood

Basic Color Schemes

• Monochromatic—different values of one color• Analogous--colors that are adjacent to each other

on the color wheel • Complementary--colors that are opposite each

other on the color wheel • Split-complementary--a main color and the two

colors on each side of its complementary color on the color wheel

• Triadic--three colors of equal distance apart on the color wheel

http://www.brigantine.atlnet.org/GigapaletteGALLERY/websites/ARTiculationFinal/PDFfiles/ColorGuide.pdf