COLOR HARMONY
The color wheel
or color circle is
the basic tool for
combining colors.
The first circular
color diagram was
designed by Sir
Isaac Newton in
1666.
The primary colors are red, yellow and blue.
The three secondary colors (orange, green and purple) are created by mixing two
primary colors.
Another six tertiary colors are created by mixing primary and secondary colors.
Cold
Cool
A designer should not use color without a specific plan or
goal.
Color is used for:
•Conveying emotion and meaning
•Changing perception of space
•Changing apparent size
•Showing similarities and differences
•Linking spatially separated objects together (Grouping)
•Attracting attention
•Creating emphasis
•Smoothing to improve image quality
•Creating aesthetic and emotional appeal
Color Harmony Principles
• There are a number of color combinations
that are considered especially pleasing.
These are called color harmonies or
color chords and they consist of two or
more colors with a fixed relation in the
color wheel.
Color Schemes
• Monochromatic color scheme
• Complementary color scheme
• Analogous color scheme
• Split-Complementary color scheme
• Triadic color scheme
• Rectangle (tetradic) color scheme
• Square color scheme
• Neutral color scheme
• Accented neutral color scheme
Monochromatic scheme is created by taking one Hue
and repeating it in various Tints, shades, and Tones
Tints - adding white to a pure hue
Shades - adding black to a pure hue
Tones - adding gray to a pure hue:
Complementary color scheme
Colors that are opposite each other on the color
wheel are considered to be complementary
colors (example: red and green).They work well
when you want something to stand out.
Analogous color scheme
Analogous color schemes use colors that are next to each
other on the color wheel. They usually match well and create
and comfortable designs. Choose one color to dominate, a
second to support. The third color is used (along with black,
white or gray) as an accent.
Split-Complementary color scheme
The split-complementary color scheme is a variation of
the complementary color scheme. In addition to the
base color, it uses the two colors adjacent to its
complement.
Triadic color scheme
A triadic color scheme uses colors that are evenly
spaced around the color wheel. To use a triadic
harmony successfully, the colors should be
carefully balanced - let one color dominate and use
the two others for accent.
Rectangle (tetradic) color scheme
The rectangle or tetradic color scheme uses four colors arranged
into two complementary pairs.
This rich color scheme offers plenty of possibilities for variation.
Tetradic color schemes works best if you let one color be
dominant.
You should also pay attention to the balance between warm and
cool colors in your design.
Square color scheme
The square color scheme is similar to the rectangle, but
with all four colors spaced evenly around the color circle.
Square color schemes works best if you let one color be
dominant.
Clash scheme
• Combine a color with one hue on either
side of its complementary
• Neutral color scheme
• A color scheme that includes only colors
not found on the color wheel, called
neutrals, such as beige, brown, and gray.
• Accented neutral color scheme
• A color scheme that includes neutral
colors, like white, beige, brown, grey, or
black, and one or more small doses of
other colors. eg.brown and beige with
green, gray and black with red
How we perceive color?
Simultaneous contrast
Gray tone appears Gray tone appears
cool when placed on a warm when placed on
warm background a cool background
Green background Green background
appears lighter appears darker
Dark tone placed on Light tone placed
the lighter on a dark
background background
appears darker appears lighter
Multicolor textile seen from a Multicolor textile viewed at a
distance appears to take on a close distance
single color as a result of two
tones mixing together
Multicolor textile viewed at a Multicolor textile seen from a
close distance distance appears to take on
a single color as a result of
two tones mixing together
White and neutral colors with red brown and soft blue;
clash scheme.
Neutral tones of beige, tan and brown are used with limited
areas of rose and soft blue ; triad scheme.
Achromatic + neutral+ primary and secondary colors.
Colored illustration of a shop interior
when ceiling -mounted light sources
are used.
Color proposal drawing for a lobby space of
Headquarters of Metropolitan Life Insurance
Company.
Colored samples are
organized into a
sample board ready
for analysis.
Same samples are
arranged in a floor plan
format making it
possible to see where
each color will be used.
Material samples in plan and elevation format .
REFERENCES
•Pile,John. Color In Interior Design.,The Mc Graw Hill
Companies.,1997,USA
•Mc Cloud.,Kevin,Choosing Colors, Watson- Guptill
Publications,2003.,USA
•Whelan, Bride.,Color Harmony.,Thames and Hudson., 1994.,UK
•www.tigercolor.com
