To See or Not to See in Color

Color can break down into more categories. Some of them include: hue, value, saturation, primary colors, monochromatic, complementary, analogous, and triads. These are important to human interface design as viewers primarily look with their eyes. Colors used wisely can either help or hinder usability more than we realize.

Hue is quite the synonym to a basic color. Colors of the rainbow are perfect examples of hues such as with red, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. I agree with the Work With Color website at http://www.workwithcolor.com/color-properties-definitions-0101.htm as I paraphrase, “these are the very basic colors we learn as children.” We do not worry about mixed colors that create aqua, lime green, hazel, maroon, and etc., when it comes to hues.

Every color has a value and a value scale. A value of that color has any shade of that pigment from white to black. Value scales often have five shades of that color total. Artists list white as number one and black as number 5. White is always the first value as black is always the last value of every color. Paintings almost always have different value scales of different colors to create depth in the painting.

We often think of the word, saturation, as a filter option for photos on applications such as Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator. But what is the definition of saturation? I like Leigh Cot Noir’s definition at learn.leighcotnoir.com:

Saturation is then the pureness of the color. Artists change saturation based on how much white or gray they add to it. Here are some examples of saturation.

Primary colors are often the first hues we learn as toddlers. They are the colors we cannot create from other pigments. The famous red, yellow, and blue hues are our primary colors. We can mix them to create other hues to complete the rainbow with orange, green, and violet.

Monochromatic is a word to explain what happens when multiple values of one color are in the same frame and close to each other. Monochromatic usually has at least 3 values to a color. It is also known as a value scale but not necessarily with colors in exact order from light to dark. A painting or design could only have a monochromatic scale of a hue such as with shades of blue.

Complementary colors make art very exciting to look at, seeing as they are the exact opposites of each other. They make each other stand out. They are also very easy to remember. Complementary colors include pairs of: red and green, blue and yellow, orange and purple, and etc. Many school colors and holiday hues are complementary to each other. Why is that? I would go back to how they contrast each other, which makes them stand out and are easy to remember.

Analogous colors are very cool. They can vary depending on how many values a color wheel may have as they are 3 colors right next to each other. They can be 3 values of any color or 3 hues of the rainbow.

Triads are much more advanced complementary colors as they add in one more tint from the color wheel. They in a sense, complete an equilateral triangle on the color wheel. They are 3 colors directly opposite of each other and are often very attractive to each other.

Color harmony in the examples above can be very effective in art. Aged since the ancient color theorists, modern day designers also use it. Interactive and product design has to contain wise color harmony in order to show pleasing psychological aesthetics. It is possible and all around us.

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