The artist's spectrum
This image shows the artist's spectrum. The artist's spectrum includes six named colors in even intervals of hue: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet, and twelve intervals including: red-orange, yellow-orange, yellow-green, etc.
A spectrum is a great resource to base your color choices off of!
There are cool and warm colors...
Cool colors consist of blues, greens, and violets. These are safe colors to use in any project because they are easy on the eyes and are interpreted to be calming.
Warm colors consist of reds, oranges, and yellows. These colors are more dynamic and are used to catch the viewer's attention.
Balancing both warm and cool colors will create a unified piece of work.
A spectrum is a great resource to base your color choices off of!
There are cool and warm colors...
Cool colors consist of blues, greens, and violets. These are safe colors to use in any project because they are easy on the eyes and are interpreted to be calming.
Warm colors consist of reds, oranges, and yellows. These colors are more dynamic and are used to catch the viewer's attention.
Balancing both warm and cool colors will create a unified piece of work.
using complementary colors
Complementary colors are hues that are opposite of one another. The opposites are red/green, yellow/violet, and blue/orange. You can see the complementary colors in the artist's spectrum. For every color interval, there is a complementary color. Red-orange's complement is green-blue and yellow-green's complement is violet-red.
Just because they are opposite colors, it doesn't mean they don't go together! There are certain ratios to consider when using complementary colors:
Red and green - 1:1
Orange and blue - 1:2
Yellow and violet - 1:3
QUICK TIP: When designing a presentation, have the color with the larger part of the ratio as the text. Ex: have purple text with a yellow background or black text on a white background. DON'T USE GREEN/RED ON A GREEN/RED BACKGROUND.
When in doubt, always go back to the artist's spectrum for reference!
Just because they are opposite colors, it doesn't mean they don't go together! There are certain ratios to consider when using complementary colors:
Red and green - 1:1
Orange and blue - 1:2
Yellow and violet - 1:3
QUICK TIP: When designing a presentation, have the color with the larger part of the ratio as the text. Ex: have purple text with a yellow background or black text on a white background. DON'T USE GREEN/RED ON A GREEN/RED BACKGROUND.
When in doubt, always go back to the artist's spectrum for reference!