Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Color Theory

Color Theory
Basic Terms:
                Hue: basic color on the color wheel
                Tint: adding white to a hue to lighten it
                Shade: adding black to a hue to darken it
                Tones: adding grey to a hue to "tone" it down

Color Wheel:

                Primary Colors: red, blue, yellow
                Secondary Colors: green, orange, and purple
Tertiary Colors: yellow-orange, red-orange, red-purple, blue-purple, blue-green, and
yellow-green
Color Schemes:
                Analogous:  any three colors side-by side on the color wheel

                Complementary: any two colors directly across from each other  on the color wheel

                Triadic: any three colors that are evenly spread around the color wheel
(picture from http://www.google.fr)

                Split Complimentary:  a base color and two colors adjacent to its direct complement 
                      

                Tetradic: two sets of complementary pairs

                                                (picture from http://www.sensationalcolor.com)

                Square: four colors spread evenly around the color wheel

                Monochromatic: varying shades, tints, and tones of one color


 

                Nature: gray, browns, beige, white
(picture from http://www.flickr.com)

                Warm Colors:  Red, Orange, Yellow
                Cool Colors: Blue, Green, purple

Color Facts:
            Red: is energetic, attention-grabbing, exciting, and aggressive; encourages appetite; Feng shui recommends painting the front door red to invite prosperity to the residents;
(picture from http://09am.com/)

            Orange: stimulates activity, stimulates appetite, and encourages socializations; is warm and welcoming, so it makes guest feel at home;  playful, childlike, happy, modern.
            Yellow: is psychologically the happiest color in the spectrum; stimulates mental processes; stimulates the nervous system; activates memory; encourages communication; Good for classrooms; most likely to strain eyes or cause eye fatigue. Bright yellow is known to make baby's cry so do not use it for a nursery.
            Green: is calming, refreshing, relaxing mentally and physically, and good for family room or bedroom.
            Blue:  Calms and sedates; is seen as trustworthy, dependable, and committed; is the least gender specific color; most used color for offices; curbs appetite

            Purple: uplifts, calms the mind and nerves, offers a sense of spirituality, encourages creativity, is an aphrodisiac so it's great for the bedroom
            White: aids mental clarity, encourages us to declutter, evokes purification of thought or actions, enables fresh beginnings;  makes room feel bright, simple and clean; good for hospitals and schools; there are more colors of white commercially than any other color
            Pink: romantic, soft, tender; is a natural calming color so it's perfect for a nursery; encourages friendliness while discouraging aggression and ill-will so it’s used in holding cells in prisons
(picture from http://www.hgtv.com)

            Brown: is bold and burly great for the man cave; Beige is classic and neutral
            Gray: unsettles, creates expectations; intellect, knowledge, and wisdom; long-lasting, classic, sleek, refined; natural color
            Black: is the lack of color; evokes power, sophistication and intelligences so it's good for the office