Use of colour as information design in games.

1. 2013
Game Design 2
Lecture 13: Colour
http://gcugd2.com
david.farrell@gcu.ac.uk

2. Half and Half
• Half on using colour in information design
• Half on what colour is and how to choose

3. Books

4. Tufte’s uses of colour
1. to label (colour as noun)
2. to measure (colour as quantity)
3. to represent / imitate reality (colour as
representation)
4. to enliven or decorate (colour as beauty)

5. Colour in Games
• Team identification (label)
• Item highlighting (label)
• Mood, tone & aesthetics (enliven)
• Convey information (measure)
• Represent reality (representation)

6. To Label (team)

7. To label

8. To label

9. To Enliven

11. To Enliven / Represent

13. Label

14. Measurement

17. Information Design
• Games don’t do a great job of information
design - but they use colour fairly well.
• Consider Tufte’s uses of colour in your
designs.

18. Part 2
• Choosing colour

19. What is Colour?

20. Rods & Cones
• Rods & Cones
• Tuned to RGB
• Uneven distribution
• 64% red, 34% green, 2% blue
• Can distinguish red better than blue
• Yellow shades particularly similar

21. Magenta?

23. Colour Models
• Red, Green, Blue (Thissen 163)
• Cyan, Magenta,Yellow, Key (Fox 52)
• Hue, Lightness, Saturation (Thissen 162)

24. Colour Wheel
• Newton Wheel
• Red,Yellow, Green
• Blended for hues
• add whites (tint)
• or black (shade)

25. Combining Colours

31. Color Jack
Text
http://www.bit.ly/colorjack

32. Tip: Industry Palettes
• Find industry photograph
• Extract main colours

33. Tip: Mood Palettes
• Find mood photograph
• Extract main colours

34. DeGraeve Extractor
http://www.bit.ly/degraeve

35. Assembling a Palette
• Select 3 to 5 colours from colour wheel
• Also select a neutral and highlight colour
• Experiment with tint and shade
• Contrast is important
• Consider the colour blind
• Consider cultural implications

36. Colour Blind
• 1 in 12 people
• Resources exist which can model colour
blindness.
• http://www.wearecolorblind.com

39. Cultural Minefield

41. Use Colour Sparingly
• It is easy to emphasise something on
unobtrusive colours.
• On glaring colours it is difficult to
emphasise something.

42. Tufte
“Above all, do no harm.”