What is Color Theory?

Color Theory is the study and knowledge of colors used by designers around the world to achieve color harmony in their designs. Color Theory is the combination of colors which includes three important key elements which are Complementation, Contrast, and Vibrancy. The most important aspect of any design is its colors. It contains recommendations and standards related to the appropriate uses of certain color combinations.

Color Wheel is a great tool for understanding the basics of color theory. This tool can help to visualize relationships between colors in a standard, schematic way. It makes understanding colors and their relations with each other, like how they are co related to each other and how two or three colors can be combined with each other. The color circle is basically made with the formation of primary, secondary and tertiary colors.

1. Primary Colors

The primary are those color which can not be formed by mixing any two or three colors. The three primary colors are red, yellow, and blue.

2. Secondary Colors

Secondary colors are the colors that are formed by mixing any two primary colors. By mixing primary colors we can get Orange, Green, and Purple.

3. Tertiary Colors

A primary color and a secondary color are mixed to generate tertiary colors. More precisely, a tertiary color is created when a primary color mixes with a secondary color that is adjacent to it in the color wheel.

Colors can convey specific meanings and emotions which can be in a positive or negative manner depending on how it is being used. Colors have the ultimate strength to convey what your business is about.

Warm Colors in Color Theory

These create an energetic effect on the visitor, but when used alone it can be overwhelming. So it is always suggested to mix them with cool and neutral colors for balance.

• Red: Promotes Power, Importance and Youth.
  Red is the color which denotes passion and power, it is the color that is very eye catchy and that is why it attracts the most attention, and that is why it is commonly used for warning signals and to highlight things so that it get noticed easily.
• Orange: Promotes Friendliness, Energy and Uniqueness.
  Orange is a mixture of its two side colors on the color wheel, red and yellow. Orange is the most muted warm color, and is uniquely versatile.
• Yellow: Promotes Youthful, Lively, Energy, Freshness and Optimistic.
  Yellow is one of the more versatile colors. Yellow gives mixed emotions like negative feelings: caution, criticism, laziness, and jealousy and Darker shades of yellow signifies impression of antiquity, timelessness, wisdom, and curiosity.

Cool Colors in Color Theory

These have a calming effect on the viewer, and this is the reason why cool colors are the most common colors used on websites.

• Green: Promotes Growth, Stability, Financial Themes, Environmental Themes and Freshness.
  Green comes between warm and cool colors. It gives a very balanced and stable aesthetic. On the other hand, green is a symbol of money, showing greed or jealousy.
• Blue: Promotes Calm, Trust, Competence, Peace, Logic and Reliability.
  Blue is a soothing, peaceful and calming color. Social media sites like Twitter and Facebook use light and medium shades, while corporate websites prefer dark shades tones of strength and reliability.
• Purple: Promotes Luxury, Romance (lighter shades) and Mystery (darker shades).
  Purple is the color of luxury, royalty and sophistication and wealth. Purples suggest lavishness and because of that most luxury goods and fashion brands opt for this color, even cadbury also uses purple for its packaging. On the other hand Lighter shades like lavender (with pink hues) are considered romantic.

Neutral Colors in Color Theory

These are great to mix with warm or cool colors and they are often used to tone down primary colors and create balance in web design.

• Black: Promotes Power, Edginess and Sophistication.
  The strongest of the neutral colors. It is not part of the color wheel but can mostly be seen in almost all the websites. It also depicts grief, mourning, and sorrow so it must be used wisely.
• White: Promotes Cleanliness, Virtue and Simplicity.
  White is also not a part of the color wheel and mostly associated with virtue, purity, and innocence. Whites are mostly used as a background color in websites which prefer minimalistic and simple approaches.
• Gray: Promotes Neutrality, Formality and Balance.
  Gray is a versatile neutral color which conveys professionalism and it is also very popular for traditional and formal choices. It is often used for texts, borders and subtle elements.
• Beige: Promotes Calmness and Relaxation.
  Beige is the combination of yellow, brown, and gray. As most beige colors are very light, Designers tend to use them as background colors.

To read more about the Color Symbolism visit Color Meaning.

• Hue is another word for color. All of the primary and secondary, and tertiary colors are hues.
• Saturation is basically how pure and intense the color seems. Saturation denotes the percentage of gray in a color.
• Value is the basically the amount of brightness or darkness we see in the color.

Primary, secondary, and tertiary colors are known as pure colors.

• When we add white color to pure color then tints are formed.
• Shade is the color that we get by adding black to any pure color.
• By adding black and white to pure colors one can get tones. Tones are also known as Saturation.

To read more about different color theory terminologies visit Mastering Color Theory.

These are also known as color schemes. There are four main types of color schemes.

1. Monochrome:

contains different hues, saturations, and tints of the same color.

2. Complementary:

Two colors from opposite sides of the color wheel are the base of complementary color schemes.

3. Analogous:

On the color wheel, adjacent colors are referred to as analogous colors. This type of palette can look very beautiful because the colors fit together so nicely.

4. Triadic:

Triadic Scheme is made by using three colors that are at the points of a triangle drawn within the color wheel.

Here are Some Key Tips to apply Color Schemes:

1. Study the cultural background
2. Understand color theory
3. Use contrast effectively
4. Try to practice frequently used color connections for communicating brand messaging and values
5. Make a color palette

To read more about color schemes and selections visit Color Schemes.

Following are the best examples of color combinations:

1. Midnight Blue and Peach:

2. Moss Green and Tan:

To see more Color Combinations visit Color Combinations.

Color theory serves as a guiding framework for selecting and applying colors in web design, ensuring that choices are deliberate and purposeful. By implementing colors according to established theories and making necessary adjustments, designers can achieve visual coherence and communicate effectively.

What is Color Theory?

Color Theory refers to the study of colors used by designers to create a color harmony in their designs.

What are the 3 main attributes of a Color?

The 3 main attributes of a Color are Hue, Saturation, and Value.

What are 7 Color Schemes?

The 7 Color Schemes are Monochromatic, Complementary, Analogous, Triadic, Split Complementary, Square, and Tetradic.

What is Hue in Color Theory?

Hue is another name for color. All primary, secondary, and tertiary colors are Hues.

What is a Cool Color?

Colors that have a calming effect on users are called cool colors like blue, indigo, green, etc.