Chapter 8

Understanding color
Chapter 8: Color Harmony

Beauty is the quality of an object or
experience that gives pleasure to one or
more of the senses.

Delight in the presence of beauty is as
natural to the human condition as
breathing.

Harmony is the happy condition that follows
when two or more different things are sensed
together as a single, pleasing experience.

Harmony is perceived as:

complete

continuous

natural

Harmony is intuitive; a feeling that things are just
as they should be.

In a harmonious
situation everything
is in balance;
everything belongs.

Happy families live in harmony.

Barbershop quartets sing in harmony.

A hermit lives
in harmony
with nature.

Harmonious experiences are without gaps
or surprises.

Color harmony occurs when two or more colors are
sensed together as a single, pleasing, collective
impression.

A single color can be beautiful,
but it cannot be harmonious.

Harmony requires a
grouping of elements.

A key characteristic of harmonious colorings is that they
seem effortless and uncontrived.

Not every color in a harmonious relationship has to be a
“pleasing” color.

These are not particularly “beautiful” colors...

But your eye needs them to bring harmony to all the
competing colors in this art quilt.

In some cases, harmony may not be the
goal of your color problem.

In this painting by Ludwig Kirchner, the idea was to
present a scene that seemed a little unsettling. The
colors help do that.

Kirchner and
Edvard Munch
were both part of a
group of painters
from the early 20th
century called
Expressionists
that used color to
heighten
emotional tension.

Color can be used
in all kinds of ways
to create various
effects called
color effects.

Color effects fall into two broad categories:

color harmony
visual impact

They are really two polar ends to a continuum with
many variations in between.

The important thing is to know what your goal is and to
use your knowledge about colors to achieve that goal.

Because of
the human
need for logic,
even
intervals are
the most
pleasing and
harmonious
type of color
intervals to
use.

You can force
colors that seem
incompatible to
achieve a sort of
harmony by
creating intervals
between them.

In this case, intervals were established not just
between the two colors but also beyond them.

Creating a series of intervals between unrelated
colors is a principal way in which they can be
transformed into a harmonious group.

Another way
to use
intervals is to
enrich a
sparse color
palette by
adding
intervals.

If colors are similar in value and an overall effect seems
flat, adding steps of value (without changing hues)
accomplishes this also.

The arrangement of intervals is not necessarily important.
The progressive intervals are inherently harmonious no matter
how the appear in the composition.

Just remember that even intervals of any color quality
(hue, value, saturation, or any mixture of these) within
the same composition tend to be more pleasing than
random intervals no matter how they are arranged.

Historically, the search for color harmony has focused
on the relationship between hues, and more specifically,
on the link between harmony and complementary
colors.

As Goethe
first said,
the eyes
find
equilibrium
in the
presence of
all three
primaries.

But not every pleasing palette is made
up of complements.

When a single hue is used in a variety of
values or saturations, it is called
monochromatic and is very
harmonious.

Analogous colors (colors next to each other
on the color wheel) also create a very
harmonious color scheme.

In fact, any hues used together can be
harmonious if used correctly.

Learning how to achieve this is what this class is
all about!

Although the principal function of value is as
contrast that creates separation between figure
and ground, traditional color theory offers three
ideas about value and harmony:

Even intervals of value are harmonious
Middle values are harmonious
Equal values in different hues are harmonious

A range of values
does not have to
extend from the
extremes of light
to dark to be
pleasing, nor
does it have to be
arranged in a
linear
progression.

(...although Professor Haas might give the painting
on the left an A+ and the one on the right an A.)

Intervals of value will be seen as harmonious as
long as steps are equidistantly spaced.

Only the oak leaf changes value intervals.
All other leaves are identical on both compositions.

When the same
image is
illustrated using
well-spaced
steps of value
and again with
irregular steps,
the even-interval
version will
almost invariably
be chosen as
preferable.

This is just
another example
of how EVEN
intervals are
always going
to be more
harmonious than
uneven ones.

All four of these
compositions
use even
intervals of
value. All create
a certain sense
of harmony no
matter how they
are arranged in
the composition.

The second premise, that “middle values are
harmonious,” implies that hues at the extremes of
light or dark are unpleasing.

But remember that middle values include everything
but the very ends of the value spectrum.

There is plenty
of light and dark
variation in the
middle value
range.

In addition to the
actual value
range of “middle”
values, there are
inherent
differences in
value between
the different
hues (like
violet/dark and
yellow/light).

It is true that middle values are often selected
as preferable over their much darker or lighter
variations.

Middle values are
easy to see and easy
to identify. Viewers
will always select first
those colors that can
be discriminated
from others with a
minimum of effort.

It is more correct
to say that middle
values are
preferred.

All values, including extreme darks and lights, are
equal in their potential to create harmonious
palettes.

The final premise, that “equal values are harmonious,”
has two distinctly different aspects:

First, hues of
close or equal
value can be
pleasing when
they are used as
carried colors
against a
contrasting
darker or lighter
ground.

You lose the
forward and back
impression that
is associated
with the contrast
of dark and light,
but the presence
of many colors
offers a different
kind of interest
and liveliness.

Hues of
close or
equal value
also create
elegant
harmonies
without a
contrasting
ground when
no image is
intended.

If your intention is to create a pleasing
background, you can’t do better than
different hues of similar value.

Color compositions tend to be most
successful when the overall level of
saturation is relatively constant.

This doesn’t mean
that every color has
the same saturation,
but that the different
saturations are
balanced to
produce an overall
effect.

When a single
saturation is
different and
isolated, it tends to
become the focal
point.

Complex compositions that include different levels
of saturation call for a studied balance between
vivid and muted elements.

Bright and dull
elements are
composed
together to
create a single,
cumulative
effect that is
brighter or more
muted.

When a single
pure color is
inserted into a
muted palette, it
will pop
forward.

As in all instances of the use of color, it is
important to remember your goal. Remember
that more saturated colors spring forward and
make less saturated colors appear duller by
comparison.

Use
saturation to
draw attention
to your main
subject.

It has been argued that muted colors are naturally more
harmonious than saturated colors because the eye is at
rest in the presence of muted color.

Brilliant colors are exciting and muted ones are calming,
but neither is inherently more harmonious than the other.

Only the relationship between colors creates color
harmony, not the colors themselves. Harmonious
compositions are possible with colors at any level of
saturation.

Professor Haas contends that muted colors are more
often seen in nature and are therefore more calming to
us.

Many complex colorings have an additional
characteristic:
a dominant hue family enlivened by
smaller areas of the complement.

Color compositions in which two or more
hue families compete for equal attention
are often less successful than those with
major-minor hue relationships.

A central feature of successful harmonies is
completeness.

The ground is often the largest single area in a
composition, and that idea of completeness includes
consideration of the color of the ground, even when it is
simply white.

Remember that even white is not absolute; all whites have
undertones of some other hue in them.

Blacks and grays, too, carry undertones. There are green-
blacks, blue-blacks, violet-blacks, and brown-blacks.

A well-chosen ground means the difference between a
fully realized color harmony and a less satisfying one.

Following the
guidelines for color
harmony does not
guarantee that a
particular colorway will
have universal appeal
because there is
always an element of
personal bias in color
preference.

However, it is true that a great deal of what we find
harmonious originates as involuntary responses of the
eyes and mind. The brain has a built-in bias for certain
kinds of combinations.

A person’s
perception of
harmony is
influenced by the
eye’s need for
equilibrium...

...the comfort level of vision,

...the human
need for logic in
perception,

...and each
individual’s
emotional
response.

An instinct for what is harmonious can be trusted
because the eyes dictate boundaries of comfort.

We enjoy the accidental beauties of nature, but in
design, harmony is not accidental; it is deliberate.

The designer creates
each new palette, and
the designer’s intent
determines whether
that palette is
harmonious or
otherwise.

Hopefully, all
these “guidelines”
for creating
harmony won’t
stifle your own
creative spirit.
No new idea ever
grew from sticking
to the rules.

What does make sense is to
consider some observations
about color harmony:

1. No single factor determines color
harmony.

2. The complementary relationship between hues
is a strong basis for harmony, but it is not the only
basis. Any hues used together can be harmonious.

3. Even intervals between colors contribute to
harmony. Even intervals are pleasing whether they exist
between hue, value, saturation, or any combination of
these.

4. Color compositions tend to be harmonious
when the level of saturation is relatively constant.

5. Compositions of many colors tend to be most
successful when a dominant family of analogous
hues is supported by smaller areas of their
complements.

beyond harmony:
dissonant colors

If color harmony is the “good child” of design,
its polar opposite is disharmony, or dissonance.

Dissonant colorways are disturbing.
Colors do not seem to belong with each
other.

Disharmony
communicates
imbalance,
unease,
edginess, chaos;
a sense that
something is
missing or is off-
kilter.

Dissonant
colorings can be
dynamic and
exciting–not
pleasing perhaps,
but certainly a
way to draw
attention.

When the guidelines of color harmony are
deliberately ignored, the result may startle or
repel, but it may also be memorable.

Unpleasing
colorways have
their own
stengths.

Some design
problems call for
colors or
combinations that
will draw instant
attention.

The strongest
images are
created by high
value contrast
alone, a graphic
power that
requires no hue.

The addition (not
the substitution) of
brilliant color to an
already powerful
image does not
change the
strength of the
image. It only
affects how long it
takes to capture
the viewer’s
attention.

Colors that are both hue-intensive and light-reflecting, like
a strong tint of red-violet, or a saturated yellow-green,
have an eye-catching immediacy.

Only a few saturated hues are truly high-impact.

The range of violets,
for example, is not
light-reflecting
enough to draw
immediate attention.

For instance, when a
highly visible violet is
called for, a strong
tint is used.

Working with high-
impact colors is not
necessarily an
alternative to color
harmony. Colorings
can be both brilliant
and harmonious.

Brilliant colors used together without some intervening
value contrast are likely to vibrate, so although they draw
immediate attention, they are poor candidates for good
readability.

However, when these colors contrast sharply with their
surroundings, they are useful in communicating nonverbal
warnings.

The Occupational Safety
and Health Administration
(OSHA) uses high-impact
colors symbolically to alert
for specific dangers–a tint
of violet for radiation, vivid
orange for hazardous
situations.

Fluorescent colors, sometimes called neon or
“DayGlo” colors, are an extreme of high-impact color.

They include a
colorant that
absorbs
wavelengths of light
from the UV range
(non-visible light) of
the spectrum and re-
emits it as visible
light.

High-impact color can also be used to direct attention.
An area of brilliant color set into a more muted palette
injects an element of surprise into a composition.

It draws
attention to
itself and away
from the
composition
as a whole.

In the natural world, brilliant and subtly muted colors
coexist. The colors of nature are also fragmented and
could be better described as optical mixes than as flat
color.

Broken color, suggesting texture, invites a tactile
response as well as a visual one.

Fragmented color responds to the human need for
connection to the natural world.

Flat color has its own purpose and place in design. Where
broken color suggest nature, hard-edged, flat colors are
dramatic and compelling.

Flat color has a discipline that responds to an
entirely different human need: the need to control.

The designer of a new electronic device is unlikely
to specify coloring that suggests the texture of
autumn leaves.

A surface that is flat, sleek, and flawless offers an
impression of precision.

The decision to use flat or broken color is a small but
meaningful side trip on the road to successful color
choices.

Chapter 8

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Chapter 8