Colour Theory

Colour theory is how we see and perceive colour.

The eye can be "fooled" into seeing the full range of visible colours through the proportionate adjustment of just three colours: red, green & blue.

‘Hue’ is one colour.

‘Colour’ is one or several hues.

‘Chroma’ is all colour including shades tints and tones.

‘Shades’ are hues plus black

‘Tints’ are hues plus white

‘Tones’ are hues plus grey

Hues can make objects and shapes appear three dimensional. Bringing them to the front, creating shadows, etc.

Pantone - universal colour guide.

Chromatic - RGB

Monochromatic - greyscale

Books:

Johannes Itten - The Art of Colour. First to define and identify strategies for successful colour combinations. Devised seven methodologies for coordinating colours, utilising the hues contrasting colour properties:

1. Contrast of hue - 3 different hues required. Primary colours are most extreme.
2. Contrast of light and dark - yellow and violet have the strongest light - dark contrast (Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde).
3. Contrast of saturation - assigning proportional field sizes in relation to the visual weight of a colour.
4. Contrast of extension - juxtaposing hues that can be considered ‘warm’ or ‘cool’.
5. Contrast of extension - assigning proportional field sizes in relation to the visual weight of a colour.
6. Complementary contrast - juxtaposing complementary colours from a colour wheel or perceptual opposites.
7. Simultaneous contrast - Colour is perceived different depending on what it is next to. Red colour appears more orange due to the colour it is next to.

Josef Albers - Interaction of color. Looks at combinations of colour and how they can be used to see them in different ways. One colour can be made to appear as 2, or 3 colours can appear as 2. The change of one colour can alter both height and weight of the original.

Colours used in book covers:

The Establishment by Owen Jones uses no colour at all. However other Penguin books often use a single hue to create an eye catching cover and highlight certain aspects of the cover. The Gettysburg Address uses a purple hue behind the figure in the front. This has a framing effect on the figure, which is filled with black, and white over it to highlight just the details of the face and the text. The Decline of the English Murder has the title and author in one hue, the rest black and white, which highlights this important information of the book.