Colour Theory

Colour theory is a design method of finding out colour harmonies using the colour wheel.  The colour wheel can range from a basic wheel of just primary colours to an in depth wheel consisting of every shade of colour imaginable. It is used by designers to show colours in relation to each other and how they work best and what is most pleasing to the eye. The wheel shows that colours that are directly opposite each other are the most compatible for example, orange and blue. And colours picked off random areas of the wheel may not work together for example, red and pink.  However the colour wheel can also be used to illustrate analogous colours, a selection of colours and shades of that sit next to each other on the wheel but work well together such as yellow, yellow-green, and green. Colour Context can also be placed into colour theory.  This explains how colours work in relation to each other but also in relation to shape and space. For example the same size and coloured square could look bigger or smaller when placed on different coloured backgrounds. When going into different shades and hues of colour, the colour theory becomes much more complex. Sometimes a block of the same colour when placed half and half on 2 different shade backgrounds can make the block look like it is different shades of the same colour.

Colour Theory does however have some limitations.  For example the colours, despite being complimentary, may not be effective together for what the designer needs. For example, green and red are complimentary colours on the colour wheel but using them on a design piece would give connotations of Christmas. For maximum impact red would happily go with yellow but according to the colour wheel these shouldn’t be used.