Comprehensive Guide to Color Theory for Beginners

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Introduction

The color theory is a set of rules and guidelines that help you understand how colors work together to create visually appealing combinations. In a nutshell, the color theory deals with the psychological and scientific facts behind the selection, mixing, and arrangement of colors. Let’s go through some essential concepts:

1. Color Wheel

   The color wheel is a circular diagram that represents the relationships between colors. It consists of primary, secondary, and tertiary colors. The primary colors are red, yellow, and blue. When you mix two primary colors, you get secondary colors, which are green (yellow + blue), orange (yellow + red), and purple (red + blue). By mixing a primary and an adjacent secondary color, you get the tertiary colors
   The color wheel is a circular diagram that represents the relationships between colors. It consists of primary, secondary, and tertiary colors. The primary colors are red, yellow, and blue. When you mix two primary colors, you get secondary colors, which are green (yellow + blue), orange (yellow + red), and purple (red + blue). By mixing a primary and an adjacent secondary color, you get the tertiary colors
    
   

   

 

2. Color Harmony

   In color theory, harmony refers to the aesthetic quality achieved by using colors that work well together. There are several ways to combine colors harmoniously, and some standard schemes include (more shown in image):

   • Complementary: Colors that sit opposite each other on the color wheel (e.g red and green).

   • Analogous: Colors that are adjacent to each other on the color wheel (e.g blue, blue-green, and green).

   • Triadic: Three colors that are evenly spaced around the color wheel (e.g red, yellow, and blue).

     
     
      

3. Value and Saturation

   Value refers to how light or dark a color is, while saturation is about the intensity (or purity) of a color. Altering value and saturation can create different color variations and contrast, leading to numerous design possibilities.

   

 

4. Warm and Cool Colors

   Colors evoke emotions, and they can be broadly divided into warm and cool colors. Warm colors (red, orange, and yellow) evoke energy, passion, and excitement. In contrast, cool colors (blue, green, and purple) represent calmness, relaxation, and stability.
    

5. Color Psychology and Meaning

   Colors have the power to influence emotions and have been assigned various meanings and associations:

   • Red: Passion, love, power.
   • Yellow: Joy, energy, warmth.
   • Blue: Trust, calm, stability.
   • Green: Nature, peace, growth.
   • Orange: Creativity, enthusiasm, energy.
   • Purple: Royalty, luxury, creativity.

 
 

Still confused? Check out these videos:
 

ADVANCED Colour Theory Makes Designs SUPERIOR! (With Real Examples)

Color Theory for Noobs | Beginner Guide

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Love seeing tutorials on UX related stuff. Yes, this is relevant to graphic designers, but it’s also super relevant to builders, modelers, particle designers, programmers in front-facing circumstances, etc. It’s also relevant to people commissioning any of the above services, because it allows for better requests on the front-end. Point being, a great topic for all developers to at least be familiar with — thanks for giving a nice entry way into it here.

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Color Psychology and Meaning

Colors have the power to influence emotions and have been assigned various meanings and associations:

• Red: Passion, love, power.
• Yellow: Joy, energy, warmth.
• Blue: Trust, calm, stability.
• Green: Nature, peace, growth.
• Orange: Creativity, enthusiasm, energy.
• Purple: Royalty, luxury, creativity.

It’s worth noting that these are not hard-set emotions since it’s super subjective! Many different color-emotion pallets out there will vary.