OUGD104 - Colour Theory (17.11.09)

Again we were looking into colour theory. This time instead of objects, we were just looking into flat colour and experimenting with sheets of card.

In this first image the yellow is fighting most with the blue. This is because they are both primary colours and are fighting for attention. The yellow on orange seems to have the least impact, due to the only small amount of difference between the colours.

We looked at how adding different colours can calm down the "noise" created by 2 strong colours. Here a red and blue square (1st) are fighting for attention. But when we add a neutral white (2nd) they seem to create less friction and become calmer. When a black is added (3rd) the colours become even easier to look at and much more comfortable on the eye.

When symbols are added, it can help to communicate a message if we use the appropriate colours also. Some colours on others just wouldnt work for some symbols. Whereas with others we already have associations. Yellow on black can mean warning. Here I think the bold black arrow on yellow background works well. Also I find it easier to read the orange arrow on a green background, rather than green on orange.