Affinity Designer: Overlaying Colours

Question

I would like to know the steps to achieve the colour effect in the picture below.

As you can see, the overlaying parts between objects have different colours. I believe this is done with some layering manipulation. However, I'm not aware of how it's done.

Using an example, how can I make the intersection between the two circles below green and maintain the non-intersecting area as it is.

P.S.: This work it's not my own, so I did not included the entire drawing.

Referencing the author's Instagram: @totoi_semerena

Answer 1

I'm not an Affinity Design user, however nearly all vector software works in similar ways.

You could perhaps use a boolean operation to make the shape in the middle an actual shape you can apply a different colour fill to.

In Affinity designer according to the user manual, these are called "Operation Commands". The one you are looking for is called Divide

Objects can be joined together to create an unlimited variety of shapes using Boolean operations . . .

Divide—splits object areas into separate objects; the object from the intersecting area retains the color of the upper object.

Of course, once you have done this you can select the intersecting area and apply a different fill colour to it.

Here's an example (this was made in Inkscape, but the software used doesn't really matter). After applying a boolean operation to get the intersecting shape, here I have applied a different colour to it.

Answer 2

There are several ways to produce similar results.

I. The most basic one is the one explained by Billy Kerr, and it is not "basic" as "simple", but "basic" as fundamental. You need to understand the fundamentals of vector design.

But it might present a problem of flexibility. What happens if you want the circles in some other place? You need to break the polygons again. This leads you to some other approaches.

II. Filters and blending modes

See if you can put an object above the first one, that changes the color of the object or image below. It could be a blending mode or it can be an object that changes the hue or saturation of the previous image. It could invert the curves or something like that.

A basic one is a simple transparency, but in reality, this is a blending mode. Normal blending mode.

One common blending mode is Difference.

III. Another trick is masking.

In vector images you can use a clipping mask; put the entire image inside, and manipulate it. In this case, I just changed hue and saturation. When you see both together you see these kinds of color changes on a shape.