What is color theory?

Color is vital in everyone’s life, whether you’re a designer or not. With color, you can convey feelings, moods, and more. But do you know how it works? Here’s how.

Color is one of the most essential elements in daily life. It helps us communicate, express situations, emotions, joy, warmth, cold, sadness—even our mood.

Identity

Colors give brands an identity, making them recognizable and distinct. Colors express what brands want to communicate to their clients and audience.

Clear examples: Coca-Cola, Google, and many more use color to transmit energy, passion, and joy. Their colors are so ingrained in consumers’ minds that they’re recognized anywhere.

Communication

Colors can communicate without words. For example, at a traffic light, we know what each color means—red: stop; yellow: slow down; green: go—thanks to psychology and intuition.

What is color?

It’s the visual perception of reflected light.

Isaac Newton discovered that sunlight passing through a prism splits into colors.

The color wheel

Colors are arranged in a circle based on a central tone—the basis for creating harmonious palettes.

They’re divided into three groups (the third is a mix of the first two):

Primary colors

Red, yellow, and blue

Secondary colors

Green, orange, and purple

Tertiary colors

Created by mixing primary and secondary colors, giving a wider range of combinations.

Color harmony

Set of color techniques to achieve balance

Start with one color and build a harmonious palette. Some types are:

Complementary

Colors opposite each other.

Triad

Colors equally spaced on the wheel.

Analogous

Colors next to each other on the wheel.

There are more, like monochromatic, square, etc.

Color psychology

Color psychology studies how we perceive colors and how they affect our emotions and behavior.

Meaning of colors

Culturally, colors have different meanings depending on the culture.

Conclusion

Color is vital in everyone’s life, designer or not. Understanding its meaning and use helps us communicate better. For designers, color psychology leads to better design decisions.

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