Design Principles: Systematic Colour (Part 1 & 2)

We had to bring in our preparatory 15 colour objects and we started by learning just some of the fundamentals of Colour Theory.

Introduction to Colour Principles:

Colour is largely indefinable- some people will percieve some colours differently to others

Physics of Optics:
- Light travelling in different wavelengths
- Interpretting different frequencies & waves to percieve the colour
- Eyes have 2 receptors: Rods & Cones
                                        - Rods convay Greys
                                        - Cones percieve Colour
                                                             - 1st is Red-Orange Sensitive
                                                             - 2nd is Green Sensitive
                                                             - 3rd is Blue- Violet Sensitive
-When a cone is stimulated, our brain percieves a corresponding colour

Paint:
- Primary Colours- Can't make these colours by mixing other colours
                             - Yellow, Red & Blue
- Secondary Colours- Made from the mixture of the Primary colours
                                 - Violet, Green & Orange
- Tertiary Colours- Breadth of other colours between the Primary & Secondary colours
                             - eg. Greeny-Blue, Reddy-Orange...

Graphics Based Colour Modes:
- Primary Colours- Spectrum Colour for Screen and Light
                           - Red, Green & Blue (RGB) is a screen based reflection of light
- Primary Colours- Physical Colour Pigments
                            - Cyan, Magenta & Yellow (CMYK- Except without K)
- The eye cannot percieve Spectral Yellow which impacts on our perception of Cyan & Magenta
                            - The eye can be fooled into seeing a range through the proportionate adjustments of
                               the colours: Red, Green & Blue

Subjective Colour (Ink-Based)- By mixing the Primary colours together, they loose thier colour value
                                               - The CMYK Primarys make RGB Secondarys
                                               - Making Murky Browns & Greys

Additive Colour (Light Based)- The RGB Primarys make CMYK Secondarys

The invention of the Colour Wheel by Josef Albers produced a systematic manner that determines how colour works

Complimentary Colours- 2 opposite colours on the Colour Wheel that don't work together
                                    - Mixed together they produce a neutral grey

From this, we had to get into groups by Object Colour so I was in the Green Group. We had to organise the colourations of all the individual objects (We had to go from Bluey- Green, Green and Yellowy- Green) in order to make a fluid colour wheel with the rest of the groups in the class.

In Class Colour Spectrum

 

All The Way Round The Spectrum

Dimensions of Colour:

CHROMATIVE VALUE = HUE + TONE + SATURATION

Hue- Individual Colour chromatic value, eg. Yellowy- Green, Pale Green

Luminance- How Bright or Dull a Colour is
                - Bright colours reflect Light
                - Dark colours absorb Light
                - Darkening a Colour - Shade
                - Reducing a colours Brightness -Tint

Tones- The desaturation of a colour

Saturation- How much of a colours purest form is still left over

Pantone Colour Code:
- Allows you to specify a colour and make sure it's definatly the colour you want
- Entire range of colours that all have a specific colour code to follow
              - Essential to compare 1 colour to the next
- Systematic approach to reading colour

7 Chosen Green Objects

In order to be able to try out the Pantone Colour Swatches for ourselves, we had to select 7 objects from our Group pile of Green. We had to select the objects that were:

1. Original Colour Green
2. Bluey- Green
3. Yellowy- Green
4. Lightest Tint
5. Darkest Shade
6. Brightest Green
7. Dullest Green

Original, Yellow-Green & Bluey Green Objects

Darkest Shade & Lightest Tint

Brightest & Dullest

From these items, we then had to look through the Pantone Colour Swatches and find each of the colours for ourselves, making a note of the Swatch set and Colour Code.

Original Colour Green- Bottle Top

 Original Colour Green- Bottle Top
- Formula Guide /solid coated
- Pantone 3425 C
             - 15pts Pantone Green 83.3
             - 1pt Pantone Yellow 5.6
             - 2pts Pantone Black 11.1

Bluey-Green- Hairspray Bottle Top

Bluey- Green- Hairspray Bottle Top
- Formula guide /solid coated
- Pantone 3278 C
             - 13pts Pantone Pro Blue 81.3
             - 3pts Pantone Yellow 18.7

Yellowy-Green- M & S Carrier Bag

Yellowy- Green- M & S Carrier Bag
- Formula Guide /solid coated
- Pantone 389 C
             - 13pts Pantone Yellow 93.8
             - 1pt Pantone Green 6.2

Lightest Tint- Zip

Lightest Tint- Zip
- Formula Guide /solid coated
- Pantone 365 M
             - 3/4pt Pantone Yellow 4.7
             - 1/4pt Pantone Pro Blue 1.6
             - 15pt Pantone Trans.WT. 93.7

Darkest Shade- Clarks Shoe Box

Darkest Shade- Clarks Shoe Box
- Formula Guide /solid matte
- Pantone 3308 M
             - 13pts Pantone pro Blue 61.9
             - 3pts Pantone yellow 14.3
             - 5pts Pantone Black 23.8

Brightest- Dog Toy

Brightest Green- Dog Toy
- Formula Guide /solid matte
- Pantone 802 M

Dullest- Jewellery Box

Dullest Green- Jewellery Box
- Formula Guide /solid uncoated
-Pantone 364 U
            - 10pts Pantone Yellow 55.6
            - 6pts Pantone Pro Blue 33.3
            - 2pts Pantone Black 11.1

Study Task:
We then had to look at some research sources and images in order to strengthen our understanding of colour theory and the language used by designers when explaining it.

http://colormatters.com is a very useful website for this as it has specific areas on the website, with sections that are based on the science of the colours and how they work. It has interesting interpretations of the colours and their meanings. The website has its own blog (http://colormatters.com/color-matters-blog) which has articles discussing the way colour effects our lives and interpretations of products.

These images are from the presentation that we had in our Design Principles session which illustrate the ideals behind colour theory.

Print Screens from Presentation based on Colour Theory

http://www.hpl.hp.com/personal/Nathan_Moroney/color-thesaurus.html is also quite useful at recognising colours as it gives you recommendations on shades and provides you with the antonyms (opposite) colours that don't go with it. Also, it gives you the percentages/amounts on how to make the shade that you want.

"Colour Theory: Quick Reference Sheet for Designers"

(Darell, R. 2012) "The Ultimate Visual Colour Theory Guide Behind Brand Design" [Internet] Available from http://www.bitrebels.com/design/the-ultimate-visual-color-theory-guide-behind-brand-design/ (Accessed 10th January 2013)

This info-graphic seems really useful as it manages to put the necessary information and basics of colour theory into a visual explanation which is easy to use and understand. It touches on, not just the science and facts about colour but possible meanings for the colours which gives it a bit more emotion and humanity to the concept of colour theory.

From this, I went onto looking at pieces of design that have looked at colour theory and the colour spectrum. There are a lot of design blogs that focus on the aspects of colour, such as http://www.colourlovers.com/blog/category/inspiration?page=1, that take inspiration from how colour effects the way design works and how it communicates in the context of a design piece.

"RGB Colorspace Atlas" (2011) by Tauba Auerbach

Auerbach, T. (2011) "RGB Colorspace Atlas" [Internet] Available from http://taubaauerbach.com/view.php?id=286 (Accessed 28th January 2013)

The books and cubes show a visual colour spectrum at work with the gradual subtle changes from one colour to another, demonstrating the way that the colour shifts from one to the other. The fact that the colours run into each other show the different colour transitions that it goes through when going from each colour and highlights the ranges of colour.

"Novum" (2011) by Paperlux

Paperlux (2011) "Novum" [Internet] Available from http://www.paperlux.com/design-en/novum-en-GB/2011/ (Accessed 28th January 2013)

The array of colours that has been used is emphasised by the fact that the magazine cover for the magazine 'Novum' has been made by mosaic pieces allowing for a 3-Dimentional effect. This creates a shift from one colour to the next, particularly if the page is twisted and manipulated. The colours used for each magazine stick to being similar shades which makes it successful.

"Pantone Postcards" (2011) by big BANG Studio

big BANG Studio (2011) "Pantone Postcards" [Internet] Available from http://bigbangstudio.blogspot.co.uk/search?updated-max=2011-07-13T08:37:00-07:00&max-results=7 (Accessed 17th November 2012)

These postcards provide a way of establishing the Pantone swatch colours in a introductory manner, with the clean presentation and simple display making it easy to identify with. The large array of shades, tone and hues gives different gradients for the designer to choose from. The Pantone swatches can be quite expensive so this would provide a cheaper alternative.

"Humanae" (2012) by Angelica Dass

Pinar (2012) "Intriguing Human Pantone Swatches" [Internet] Available from http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/angelica-dass-humanae (Accessed 15th February 2013)

Another interesting approach to making colour theory practical is these physical approaches to Pantone Swatches by making them apply to the skin tone of people. The way these portraits are presented shows a very keen eye for tonal values and highlights the different variations in hues.

"CMYK Playing Cards"(2013) by Hundred Million

Hundred Million (2013) "CMYK Playing Cards" [Internet] Available from http://hundredmillion.co.uk/HM-cmykcards.html (Accessed 13th April 2013)

The cards are minimalist with no detail included on them apart from the necessary information, which is colour and card type (e.g.. King). The way that the cards can be fanned out to show the different opacities of coloured inks that have been printed on creates a beautiful gradient scale throughout all 4 sets of colours.