color theory is a body of practical guidance to color mixing and the visual impacts of specific color combinations.
80
votes
11answers
3k views
Tips and sources for beginning designers
Thanks to the internet, graphic design and programming are becoming increasingly overlapping fields.
As a programmer, I constantly find myself needing basic knowledge of Graphic Design, but have ...
27
votes
8answers
973 views
Is there a good resource or tool to help build a palette/color scheme around colors I select?
No matter how nice the composition, flow, and lines of my design are, if I am not copying directly from nature, I have a very difficult time picking a decent color scheme. It either looks too drab, ...
22
votes
6answers
953 views
Sources for Color Theory or Psychology of Color
Does anyone have a recommendation for a good book/blog/forum that focuses on design principles such as psychology of color, specifically where it relates to picking a color palette for a communication ...
9
votes
1answer
197 views
How to make a color APPEAR the same on different backgrounds?
Background on color perception:
Due to the nature of the human eye and visual processing by the brain, there's an optical illusion that the same color will look different depending on the background. ...
8
votes
4answers
302 views
Do high-content areas of a website need to be white/light-colored?
Many websites that are designed to be easy to read (eg. nytimes.com or ilovetypography.com) use white backgrounds with black fonts to make the content easy to read. Is it necessary to only use light ...
8
votes
2answers
726 views
How to calculate other colors with the same perceived lightness as a given gray value?
This is related to a question I asked on tex.stackexchange, which has a color aspect. The result of that question is the following image:
I have drawn a series of gray squares on the left, with a ...
8
votes
1answer
164 views
Which is easier on the eyes: dark-on-light or light-on-dark?
While working on my latest website, I started actually wondering if what I learned in grade school was true. I've been taught that programs like Word default to use a white background with black text ...
7
votes
3answers
138 views
What colors are good to avoid eye fatigue in dark environments?
I'm working on a program that requires a dark interface, because it's mostly used in dark rooms. After some thought I decided to add a light version too and let the user swap them, but both still have ...
7
votes
1answer
79 views
Is there a metric for “apparent” chroma?
I'm not sure this is the right place to ask, but is anyone aware of a metric for apparent chroma?
Now I understand that "chroma" and "chrominance" are very overloaded terms, so to clarify, I ...
6
votes
1answer
107 views
Tips for using poor colours well
This is less of a question with a definitive answer and more of a request for some tips. I am hoping that some of you may had had this problem yourself and can offer some advice.
I have been ...
6
votes
2answers
7k views
Good color to go with black & white design?
What's a good color to go with a black and white design, if there will only be one color on the site? I've tried using color palettes but they're not very helpful, because if the first two colors are ...
6
votes
2answers
229 views
How do you avoid bands of prominent color in gradients?
So this is more scientific visualization than graphic design, but I think the theory is the same. In colormaps used for visualizing data, there are often bands of color that stick out when they ...
5
votes
4answers
224 views
If these colors all have the same lightness, then why does my brain tell me some are lighter than others?
My human brain has a certain sensation of how "bright" a color is. More formally there is Lightness:
Human vision has a nonlinear perceptual response to brightness: a source having a luminance ...
5
votes
3answers
453 views
Designing interesting looking websites in greyscale, minimal tones
I know a business that wanted a website to match their brand, and it would seem that they are allergic to colour. I think designs in greyscale can look amazing, especially in print, but it feels near ...
5
votes
7answers
244 views
Is there a good way to establish a Green-Yellow-Red colour scheme?
Basic colour theory tells us that a colour palette of Green, Yellow and Red is a laughably ugly, they are colours that clash. If we take Green as the prominent colour, the analogous colours that go ...
5
votes
2answers
480 views
How do I select a high-contrast color set for a map?
Obviously, black & white are the highest contrast. I also want 2 sets of colors, so that regions on the map can be colored with good contrast. For instance, one region might be red, another ...
5
votes
3answers
207 views
What is the relationship between hue, saturation and value?
I see people adding color on top of a gray-scale drawing and their colors look great, but when I do myself, the colors look terrible (dirty, not the color I seem to pick from the color wheel). People ...
5
votes
2answers
112 views
Is there a single text color that is acceptable on both dark and light background?
Is there a single text color that, when used on either dark or light background, produces a readable (or at least tolerable) output?
If it makes it easier, constraints can be put on the hue, ...
5
votes
1answer
134 views
Given a number, how to find that many colours that are well-distinguishable?
I'm interested in getting an method for obtaining n well-distinguishable colours, where n is just a given number. The purpose is for it to be implemented in an algorithmic way.
I have read other ...
4
votes
5answers
344 views
Colors in Website Design
It's not a kind of question but rather it's a kind of thing which effects a lot in web designing.
What are some important rules to follow for making a color combination in web design?
I always fail ...
4
votes
3answers
375 views
How to design sites with dark colours (red and black palette)
The graphic designer for my club created a red and black logo (major color is black highlighted with red). Everyone thinks it looks great, and I agree. The issue lies with designing the site. We've ...
4
votes
3answers
95 views
How to calculate the best type colour for a random background colour?
I might need to present content at multiple levels depending on the distance of the observer to a display. Let's say from far away the user perceives a flat colour, but from a close distance the user ...
4
votes
3answers
85 views
How about a fourth primary additive color?
I'm currently reading Color Design Workbook: A Real World Guide to Using Color in Graphic Design, but it's a bit short on color theory basics. I was wondering: in CMYK, black is added to the three ...
4
votes
2answers
793 views
What colors stimulate learning
What colorschemes do you think stimulate learning and attention seeking without being distracting?
4
votes
2answers
403 views
Looking for suggestions for making type more readable with a drop shadow
I want to show a menu with indented items on top of a black background. I tried a lot of colors but can't find the right ones.
I'm using css property text-shadow:
text-shadow: 1px 1px #191919 , -1px ...
4
votes
3answers
41 views
Can adjusting color (or grayscale) properties of an image affect its visibility in daylight?
I'm trying to find ways to make images more visible under daylight (i.e., when daylight reflects off the image screen/print). For my project, I want to display digital images on an electronic display ...
4
votes
1answer
109 views
Is there an equation to easily convert a color to its matching color in another hue?
I am trying to design a site with a couple color schemes. I am looking for a way to make color schemes that match mathematically.
For example, I know that #FF0000 matches perfectly with #00FF00 and ...
4
votes
1answer
585 views
Color harmonies math:triada, complement, analogous, monochromatic
I need help in color math. I have one main color and i want to know how i can calculate other colors of chosen harmony. I need such color harmonies: triada, complement, analogous, monochromatic. Any ...
4
votes
1answer
72 views
Designing GUI for mobile apps working in bright sunlight environment
I'm going to create GUI for a mobile app that will work in bright sunlight environment (inside a car so it will not be fully exposed to sunlight) and the usability and visibility of certain GUI ...
3
votes
6answers
600 views
Improved splash screen design
The splash screen at the moment for my application is far from catching, but I'm no graphic designer and apart from the fact it looks bland and boring, I can't really work out what I need to do in ...
3
votes
4answers
2k views
What are the true complementary colors and their values ?
Being a webdesigner I learned that
Green= 00FF00
Blue= 0000FF
Red= FF0000
Yellow=FFFF00
Correct ?
And color theory says that Red is the complementary color of Green.
Yet when I use ...
3
votes
4answers
593 views
In color theory, what are primary and secondary colors?
I went through an article on color connotations and it did not explain why colors are grouped as primary and secondary so I don't know if it is important to know the reason why we have:
warm color
...
3
votes
2answers
101 views
How can I make this footer “more corporate”?
I created a footer for a dental lab. I was trying to keep it warm and inviting, but now being told it "looks too casual" or "looks too simple". I heard the blues and grays are "too subtle"
So before ...
3
votes
3answers
78 views
How to make red icon on gray background less jarring?
My app has a button to record or play videos. When there are problems with this feature, we notify the user by overlaying an exclamation point. This "red !" UI works OK elsewhere in the app but on ...
3
votes
1answer
636 views
What are the possibilities choosing colors using Phi (the Golden Ratio)?
I recently sat down with a friend, and we hypothesized that Phi (the irrational number) and that it could be used to determine colors using an algorithm of a sort. So, I came back home, and googled ...
3
votes
1answer
142 views
Differences in color conversion (RGB to CMYK) / How to choose Corporate Color
I figured out that there are possibly more than one methods to convert RGB to CMYK.
Using Adobe Illustrator CS6 (Mac) the color conversion is completely different as the conversion via Wolfram Alpha. ...
2
votes
2answers
186 views
What is a good illustration (or example) of the Helmholtz–Kohlrausch effect?
While reading on the Lab color space, I stumbled onto the Wikipedia page for the Helmholtz–Kohlrausch effect. I can honestly say that, while all the words in that page make sense individually, I ...
2
votes
4answers
90 views
How to find matching colors for label text and border for a keypad?
I am developing a calculator app which looks like this:
I'd like to bundle a few themes for the user. So I pick a few colors for the keypad I like. However, I have a hard time to determine which ...
2
votes
3answers
1k views
Color mixer that can mix 3 or more colors?
I'm looking for some sort of service, tool or application – even manual techniques – where you can digitally mix/blend 3 or more colors (i.e. not 2 as in most applications out there) and get the ...
2
votes
1answer
67 views
How to get RYB complementary colors in RGB imaging software
I am looking for a way to get RYB complementary colors in software. This means, complementary color pairs I am looking to get would be:
red - green
yellow - violet
blue - orange
However, when ...
2
votes
2answers
152 views
Given a color scheme, how do I apply to website design?
Just so there is something concrete to discuss, say I have this color scheme:
http://www.lavishbootstrap.com/?image_url=http://design-seeds.com/palettes/12/SpringTones505.jpg
There are many articles ...
2
votes
3answers
96 views
Choosing color scheme? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Is there a good resource or tool to help build a palette/color scheme around colors I select?
Is there any way or tool to choose the best color scheme for a web site?
...
2
votes
2answers
83 views
Determining text color on top of a selectable background color
I have a requirment to have users be able to select button colors, I want that according to the background color they select, an appropriate, contrasted button text color will be determined ...
2
votes
1answer
151 views
Site / App color schemes
I have a Color scheme for an app lets say I'm using the colors from this swatch http://kuler.adobe.com/#themeID/1746892. I am about to create another app and I'd like all of the apps created by my ...
2
votes
4answers
110 views
Red replacement as color convention in primarly-red websites
I am working for a company, which web site uses red as its primary color, because this is the main corporate color (so, this could not be replaced).
The usual convention, of using red to highlight ...
2
votes
2answers
68 views
How do I make alternating lines in a graphic visually distinct?
I draw a graphic consisting of N lines. I want every two lines to have a different color in order to be visually distinct.
Question: Which colors would you recommend? The longer the list, the better, ...
2
votes
1answer
130 views
Theorical Colors ranges - Color Theory
I'm looking for specific ranges of colors here.
I want the range (in Hexa or RGB) for warm colors and cool colors, active and passive colors for exemple:
Warm color from #DD6421 to #FF0000 (random ...
2
votes
2answers
346 views
Choosing between Analogous, Complimentary, and Triad Colour Schemes
Background information: I'm working on an Android game for which I need to pick colours. But, I want the answer to this to be general to ANY kind of graphic design.
How do I choose between using a ...
1
vote
4answers
252 views
Darker shade of a given color
What does it mean and how do I get a darker shade of a given color. For example if I have the color
R = 53, G = 140, B = 205
or
H = 204, S = 74, B = 80,
or
#358CCD
What value do I change in ...
1
vote
2answers
64 views
Dark Theme vs Light Theme in Web Applications
I am designing a theme for our web application & I really like the new Adobe Photoshop layout (which is dark, though not black), so I took the cue & created my own dark layout. However, our ...
