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Bristol Community CollegeBristol Community CollegeBusiness Creativity

Sources: Non Designers Design Book

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Why Use COLOR? To enhance To emphasize To embolden To set the emotion of your publication

and because COLOR SELLS!

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Appropriate Uses of COLOR To add selective emphasis

• Red in a spreadsheet indicates negative numbers To organize

• Gradients lead the eye through content• Shades indicate sidebars or related info

To add impact• Spot color or pie charts and other graphics

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More Appropriate Uses To separate content

• Different color magazine covers may note different volumes

• Varied colors on different sections in a newspaper or magazine

To create emotion• Bright colors suggest optimism• Dark colors suggest wealth & conservatism• “Back to Nature” colors suggest holidays or

seasonal themes

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Inappropriate Uses Color is wasted…

• when used to color a word or phrase in a body of the document

• when used as a backdrop for ordinary fonts

Thin lines, vertical rules, & small graphics are not good uses for color

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COLOR Considerations Color on the computer is not the same as

when it’s printed Paper affects finished color Color works best when concentrated in only a

few areas Color can provide selective emphasis Color organizes elements Color is expensive

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It’s Okay to Use COLOR… as a reverse in headings on logos with business charts and graphics as tints behind graphics to bring them alive to separate elements on a page as a colored background

• -- but not at the expense of contrast

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Don’t Use COLOR… out of habit to brighten things up scattered across the page as a substitute for size behind small type for lots of text (It’s hard to read) to print black and white photos

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Be Careful Using COLOR Don’t print colored text over a background of a

gradient version of the same color• Text readability requires contrast

Don’t print an entire document in an unusual color• You lose the value of color for emphasis

Color can also be the medium• Printing on colored paper changes the contrast and

any color in the document

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Types of COLOR Process Color

• A mix of four colors to create the effect of full color• Cyan• Magenta• Yellow• Black [Key]

Spot Color• One or more additional inks

Duotone• a secondary color over black ink

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Process COLOR

Effective, but expensive

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What is SPOT COLOR? With spot color, you start with a black and

white document and, using standard copying techniques, select words or graphics to appear in a second color such as red, blue, brown or green. • Sometimes , it's also referred to as “highlight" color

or "accent" color • Spot color gives you the chance to add a highly

professional image with little added expense

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Add Impact with SPOT COLOR Spot color creates a highly professional image

with little added expense• Example: Simple color key lines at the top or bottom

of the page are an elegant design touch

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How SPOT COLOR Adds Impact Superior to bolding, italicizing and underlining

in black & white Used properly, spot color can help visually

organize your layout by linking information and letting your reader focus on the critically important details.

Why? Instant eye-attraction of spot color draws attention to titles and vital

information such as key dates or points of action

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COLOR Communicates Certain colors have certain connotations in

publications:• RED - warning or revenue losses• BLUE - calming and recessive• GREEN - can bolster capital projections.• YELLOW - usually does not reproduce well and will

get lost…• but yellow on a black background is

psychologically the most penetrating color combination to human perception

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Tips for Using COLOR Usually, large solid areas of color & gradients

don't reproduce well • Use the second color sparingly

Too much of the color dilutes its effectiveness; it should help organize information by

attracting attention to areas such as subtitles, summary statements, or sidebar pull quotes

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How To Create Spot ColorUsing Digital Publishing Techniques

Create an original in whatever program you ordinarily use, such as InDesign

Utilizing the text tool, highlight the text you want to stand out, and select a spot color. If selecting a graphic, use the arrow or graphic selection tool to highlight and select color

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How To Create Spot ColorUsing Traditional Copying Techniques

Spot color copies are created using black and white original masters

• You must create one master for each color For instance, if you want your document to be

black and red, make one original with the information you'd like to have in black, and another with what you'd like to be red

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How To Create Spot ColorUsing Separation

Most leading page layout programs can separate and print out these color

masters automatically• You can also create the masters manually by

printing out two copies of a document in black and white, and then whiting-out or removing all of the elements from the page except those which will appear in that color

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The Bottom Line

Plan carefully to use colors effectively

Be sure to get the colors you want• Use Pantone or other color scales

Color is expensive

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Resources

Visit their sites for features & demos:• www.adobe.com• www.quarkxpress.com

Try these sites for training & techniques:• www.desktoppub.about.com• www.creativepro.com