There are literally millions of colors, but they can be divided into just a few color families. And every color can be described in terms of having three main attributes: hue, saturation and brightness.

1. The Psychology of
Color
T h e H o w a n d W h y o f C o l o r
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2. Color Attributes
• There are literally millions of colors, but they can
be divided into just a few color families.
• And every color can be described in terms of
having three main attributes: hue, saturation and
brightness.
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3. Hue
• Any pure color is referred to as a hue.
• Hue is identified as the color family or color
name (such as red, green, purple).
• Hue is directly linked to the color's
wavelength.
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4. WAVELENGTHS OF COLORS
• Violet: 380–450 nm (688–789 THz frequency)
• Blue: 450–495 nm.
• Green: 495–570 nm.
• Yellow: 570–590 nm.
• Orange: 590–620 nm.
• Red: 620–750 nm (400–484 THz frequency)
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5. WAVELENGTHS OF COLORS
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6. Saturation
• Saturation, also called “chroma,” is a measure of the
purity of a color or how sharp or dull the color appears.
• Saturation is the relative brilliance or vibrancy of a color.
The more saturated a color, the less black it contains.

7. Brightness
• Brightness, also called “luminance” or “value,” is the
shade (darkness) or tint (lightness) of a color.
• Areas of an evenly colored object in direct light have
higher brightness than areas in shadow.

8. Tint vs. Shade
•A hue is a specific color; red, green,
blue.
•A tint of a color is made by adding
white.
•A shade is made by adding black.

9. Color Wheel
•Invented by Sir Isaac Newton.
•A tool for understanding color relationships
and creating harmonious color schemes.
•The color wheel is divided into three
categories: primary, secondary, and
tertiary.

10. Color Wheel
• Primary colors are those that cannot be
created by mixing other colors together.
• Secondary colors are those that are
created by mixing two primary colors.
• Tertiary colors are those that are created
by mixing a primary and secondary color
together. For this reason they have two-
word names.
Example: blue-green, yellow-orange, etc.

11. Warm vs. Cool Colors
Warm colors appear larger
than cool colors.

12. Cool colors
• Cool colors range from blue to violet, the half of the color
wheel with shorter wavelengths.
• Have a calming effect.
• Frequently used for backgrounds to set off smaller areas
of warm colors.
• Used together, cool colors can look clean and crisp,
implying status and calm.
• Bright cool colors generates more excitement than light,
medium or dark cool colors.

13. Warm Colors
• Warm colors range from red to yellow.
• On the half of the color wheel corresponding
to the longer wavelengths.
• Warm colors are active, attention-grabbing and
aggressive.
• They stimulate emotions, motivate and seem to
come forward off the screen or page.

14. Color Schemes
• Selecting color combinations may be based on
several traditional color schemes. These are:
– Compliments
– Monochromatic
– Neutral
– Analogous
– Low Intensity
– Split Compliments
– Double Compliments

15. Complementary Colors
• Any two colors whose light together
produces white are called
complementary colors.
• Complementary colors in an image are
pleasing to the eye. The colors seem to
belong together.
• The most effective use of
complements is to let one of them
dominate by giving it a bigger area or a
fuller saturation, while using the other
as an accent.

16. Complementary Colors
• Complementary colors lie
opposite each other on the color
wheel.
They complete or enhance each
other.
• When a pair of high intensity
complements are placed side by
side, they seem to vibrate and
draw attention to the element.
• If the hues are of low-intensity,
the contrast is not too harsh.

17. Complementary Colors
• Intensity can only be altered by mixing a
color with its complement, which has the
effect of visually neutralizing the color.
• Changing the values of the hues, adding
black or white, will soften the effect.

18. Monochromatic Schemes
• A monochromatic color scheme uses
only one hue (color) and all values
(shades or tints) of it for a unifying and
harmonious effect.
• You can change the value of a color by
adding black (shade), or white (tint), or
gray (tone).
• As white is added to a color it becomes
“higher” in value (lighter).
• As black is added it becomes “lower” in
value (darker).

19. Monochromatic Colors
• Value is the relationship of light to dark.
• Values that are close together give
the design a calm appearance.
• Values of pure hues as well as those
of tints and shades create movement.
• Value contrasts show texture and
provide an effective means of
directing viewer attention in a
composition.

20. Neutral colors
• Contains equal parts of three primary
colors - black, white, gray, and sometimes
brown.
• When neutrals are added to a color, only
the value changes.
• If you try to make a color darker by
adding a darker color to it, the
color (hue) changes.
• Black and white are thought of as
neutrals because they do not change
color.

21. Analogous Colors
• Colors that contain a common hue
and are found next to each other on
the color wheel.
• Adjoining colors on the wheel are
similar and tend to blend together.
• They are effective at showing
depth.

22. Analogous Colors
• Analogous color can be used to
create subtle differences in an
image or design by creating a
peaceful and more harmonious
feeling.

23. Intensity
• Intensity is the Brightness or
dullness of a color.
• A pure hue is a high-intensity
color.
• A dulled hue, a color mixed with
its complement, is called a low-
intensity color.

24. Triads
•A color triad is composed of three
colors spaced an equal distance apart
on the color wheel.
•The contrast between triad colors
is not as strong as that between
complements.

25. Triad - Primary Colors
• Primary Color are rarely seen as a trio except in children’s
products.
• Red and yellow, are popular in the USA
for everything from fast food
to gas stations.
• Blue and red are also
common, but are
attractive only when
separated by space.

26. Triad - Secondary
• Colors created by mixing two
primary colors to create a
secondary color.
• Red + yellow =orange
• Yellow + blue = green
• Blue + red = purple (violet)

27. Intermediate Triads
• Colors are created by mixing a
primary and a secondary
• Examples:
red-orange
yellow-orange
yellow-green
blue-green
blue-purple
red-purple

28. Split Complements
• The combination of one hue,
plus the hues on each side of its
complement.
• Easier to work with than a
straight complementary scheme
because it offers more variety.
Example: red-orange, blue, and
green.

29. Double Complements
•Two hues and their opposites.
•Four colors arranged into two
complementary color pairs.
•Scheme is hard to harmonize.
•If all four colors are used in equal
amounts, the scheme may look
unbalanced.
•Choose a color to be dominant or
subdue the colors.

30. Compositional Effects of Color: Spatial effects
• Hues that are lighter at maximum saturation (yellows,
oranges) appear larger than those that are darker at
maximum saturation (e.g., blues and purples).
• Warm colors appear closer and cool colors fall back.

31. Compositional Effects of Color
• A large shape or form appears to
be heavier than a small shape.
Several small shapes or forms can
balance one large one.
• An object with a complicated
contour is more interesting and
appears to be heavier, than one
with a simple contour. A small
complex object can balance a large,
simple object.

32. Compositional Effects of Color
•Use highly saturated or high-intensity
colors (a pure hue with no other colors
mixed in) or busily detailed areas to draw
attention.
•Highly saturated colors give the
appearance of carrying more weight than
less saturated, low-intensity or visually
simpler areas.

33. How Colors Effect Each Other
• Placing colors next to each other effect how we see colors and is a
complex part of color theory.
• Red appears more brilliant against black.
• Red is somewhat duller against the white.
• Next orange, red appears lifeless.
• In contrast with blue-green, red exhibits brilliance.
• The red square appears larger on black than on other background
colors.

34. How Colors Effect Each Other
• The color of the surrounding color can affect how the color looks.
• The block in the center of the examples below are the same, only
the background color has changed.
• Color is partially defined in our brain by the colors surrounding it.

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