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Week-7-8-Color-Theory

The document discusses color theory in graphic design, highlighting the meanings and associations of various colors such as red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, brown, white, black, and gray. Each color is linked to specific emotions and cultural interpretations, along with suggestions for their effective use in design. Understanding these associations can help designers communicate the desired message and appeal to their target audience.

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charlene.ogang27
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6 views

Week-7-8-Color-Theory

The document discusses color theory in graphic design, highlighting the meanings and associations of various colors such as red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, brown, white, black, and gray. Each color is linked to specific emotions and cultural interpretations, along with suggestions for their effective use in design. Understanding these associations can help designers communicate the desired message and appeal to their target audience.

Uploaded by

charlene.ogang27
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Color Theory

PROF. CELINE DIANNE


The Power of Color

▪ Beginning Graphic Design: Color


▪ Color Scheme
▪ Color Meaning
The Meanings of Color
Red is for passion, love and anger

- Red is a warm color associated with passion, love, anger


and heightened emotions.
- blood is red and when our hearts are pounding and our
emotions are soaring sky high
- Red is primal; red can be dangerous.
- Think of alarms, stop signs, rising temperatures and rising
tensions.
Red

- Red is more than the color of primal passion, though. In


many Asian cultures, it’s associated with luck.
- In Latin America, it’s paired with white to symbolize
Christianity.
Red

- Use red in a design that demands a bold, impactful color


the viewer can’t ignore. That’s what makes it such a great
choice for buttons and highlighted text—the elements
you don’t want viewers to overlook:
Using Red in Design
Using Red in Design
Orange is for creativity, youth and enthusiasm

- The next warm color on our list, orange, has a few similar
associations to red: energy, boldness and brightness.
- Orange feels safer, which could be why it’s such a popular
color for safety equipment.
- Orange can feel like youthful zest, so it’s a popular color
for brands that appeal to children.
- It combines the warmth and heat of red with the
playfulness and joy of yellow.
Orange

- Beyond this, it’s a great choice for really any brand that
aims to exude a sense of energy or intensity.
- Orange is loud and can even be obnoxious, which is
perfect if you’re a bold, boisterous brand that’s not quite
in-your-face enough to make red your main brand color.
Using Orange in Design
Using Orange in Design
Yellow is for happiness, hope and spontaneity

- Yellow is the color of the sun, smiley faces and sunflowers.


It’s a happy, youthful color, full of hope and positivity.
- It’s another color that grabs your attention and for that
reason can also be used to signify caution, like red and
orange. It’s another warm color that can feel upbeat and
bright.
Yellow

- In the Middle East and Latin America, it’s a color of


mourning.
- In Africa, it’s the color of wealth. In western cultures, it’s
the color of joy, youthfulness and fun.
- This is one color where it’s critical to know your audience
when you’re designing because while a yellow logo for a
funeral service makes sense in Guatemala, it doesn’t in
France.
Using Yellow in Design
Using Yellow in Design
Green is for nature, growth and
harmony—but also wealth and stability

- When most people see green, they think of plants and


produce. More specifically, they think of healthy plants
and produce, like a thriving ivy climbing a fence or a
healthy green smoothie to start the day.
- East Asian cultures that push green’s association with new
life and vitality to also symbolize youth and fertility.
Green

- Brands often use green to signal that they value health


focusing on healthy, sustainable food options.
- Green is also a cool color, and cool colors (in contrast to
warm colors) often feel more subdued and calm.
- essentially tapping into how traffic lights have trained us
to associate the color green with permission to move
forward.
Using Green in Design
Using Green in Design
Blue is for calm, trust and intelligence

- blue is calm and cool.


- Think of the vast midday sky or a calm blue lake
- When most people think of cool colors, blue is the first
hue to come to mind.
- Blue also has spiritual associations in various cultures
around the world.
- In Latin America, it’s associated with the Virgin Mary. In
India, it’s associated with Krishna. And in the Middle East,
blue is associated with heaven.
Using Blue in Design

- For a cool, calm feel, choose blue. We mean it literally,


too. Brands that supply ice or cooling solutions (yes, ice
cream counts as a cooling solution) can communicate this
literal coolness through blue logos.
- Brands use the color blue to communicate that they’re
calm, cool and trustworthy. It’s a popular color for tech
brands, financial institutions and any brand that aims to
communicate professionalism and dependability.
Using Blue in Design
Using Blue in Design
Purple is for luxury, mystery and spirituality

- Purple is a lot of things. It’s mysterious. It’s magical. It can


be playful, but it can also be reverent. Across the globe,
purple has been the color of royalty and clergy for
centuries.
Using Purple in Design
Using Purple in Design
Pink is playfulness, fun and youthful

- Pink is the color of bubblegum and carnations. And hot


pink can feel funky and futuristic. It doesn’t take itself too
seriously; it’s fun.
- Brands that want to attract youthful and casual audiences
can do so with the color pink.
- natural choice for candy brands, bakeries and anybody
else offering up something sweet.
- That sweetness extends to flirtiness and romance,
too—floral designers and romantic resorts can get a lot of
mileage out of pink design
Using Pink in Design
Using pink in design
Using pink in design
Brown is wholesomeness, warmth and honesty

- Brown is a natural color, associated with the earth and as


a result gives a sense of stability and support.
- brown brings to mind farming and agriculture and other
outdoorsy activities. It feels very earthy and natural.
- It’s a color that’s warm and friendly, practical and
dependable, and can also represent the old-fashioned and
well-established, even rugged at times, which is exactly
why established, dependable, and rugged brands go with
brown in their designs.
Using brown in design
Using brown in design
White is for simplicity and minimalism

- When used in design and branding, white creates a


minimalist aesthetic. It can be very simple, clean and
modern.
- White is a common color for brands that want to
communicate values like cleanliness, freshness and
minimalism.
- Designing with negative space in mind is a strategy you
can use to work additional imagery into a fairly simple
logo or to give your viewers a little “aha!” moment when
they first notice the design in the negative space.
Using white in design
Black is for power, elegance and sophistication

- Black is an incredibly versatile color and probably the


most used color in graphic design.
- When it comes to branding and marketing, black is
generally associated with exclusivity, power and elegance.
- It’s bold, powerful and a little mysterious, which makes it a
firm favorite of modern brands.
- It’s a color that gives off a look and feel of luxury, so it’s a
popular color for high-end brands.
Using black in design
Using black in design
Gray is for professionalism, formality
and conventionality

- It’s a mature, responsible color. And has positive


connotations of formality and dependability, while the
negative side can mean being overly conservative,
conventional and lacking in emotion.
Using gray in design
Questions ?

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