Color Flashcards
How do we see color?
The color we see is the light reflected back to our eyes, which have cones inside them to help us see the reflection of light off the things around us.
What are the three systems of the human eye?
- When (Our most primitive)
- Where (Our Location)
- What (Our Focus)
Does color exist if no one is there to see it?
Colors don’t exist until we see them. There’s no such thing as colors without the eyes and the brain to perceive them. If there is not a living being, to observe color, then the color does not exist.
What is color?
Color is the aspect of things that is caused by differing qualities of light being reflected or emitted by them.
Our eyes have cones inside them to help us see the reflection of light coming off of things around us. The color we see is the light reflected back to our eyes.
Why do we see color?
Colors help us navigate the world and distinguish one thing from another. In addition, being able to distinguish the color of object clues into the internal state of that object.
For example, the color of a tomato tells us if it is ripe.
What is Color theory?
The collection of rules and guidelines which designers use to communicate with users through appealing color schemes in visual interfaces.
What is Hue?
Is essentially another word for color. Hue represents a color without reference to how dull or saturated, or dark or light, that color is.
What is Value?
Describes how light or dark a color appears, and ranges from black to white.
What is Saturation?
Aka Chroma. Saturation refers to the intensity of a color, whether it appears more subtle or vibrant.
Highly saturated colors are brighter, whereas desaturated colors have less pigment and appear duller.
Color can become less saturated when you add black and white or its complement.
What is a monochromatic scheme?
Is based on the colors created from different tints (created by adding black or white to the original color), tones and shades of one hue.
When is a monochromatic scheme commonly used?
A monochromatic scheme is commonly used in minimal designs because one hue should result in a less distracting layout.
On the other hand, this scheme means that you cannot use multiple colors to help visualize information in a user interface (UI). That is the only price of simplicity
What is an analogous color scheme?
One color trio at a time. It’s based on three colors located next to each other on the color wheel. e.g. yellow-green, yellow, and yellow-orange).
This scheme can easily be found in nature. Just think of trees in the autumn as the leaves change color.
What is a “high-key” analogous color scheme?
There is a variant on this scheme, the “high-key” analogous color scheme. It’s achieved by mixing your analogous shades with white. This version is commonly found in impressionist art — particularly early impressionist art. The effect achieved is one where the colors seem to “shimmer” and “blur” into each other; when viewed from a distance, it can create the illusion that only a single color is in use.
What is a complementary color scheme?
Complementary color schemes use one (or more) pairs of colors that, when combined, “cancel each other out” or “neutralize” one another. For example, when you combine the two colors, they produce white or black (or something very similar from the greyscale). For that reason, this scheme is also known as the “opposite color” scheme.
When you put two complementary colors next to each other, they show the greatest contrast. In modern color theory, the pairs are red/cyan, green/magenta and blue/yellow.
What is a Triadic color scheme?
The triadic scheme is based on the use of three colors at equal distances from each other on the color wheel. The easiest way to find a triadic scheme is to put an equilateral triangle on the wheel so that each corner touches one color. The three colors will be exactly 120° from each other.
These schemes are considered to be vibrant (even when the hues themselves are not) — they keep the harmony but deliver a high level of visual contrast. You can find triadic schemes in a lot of art as it’s easier to deliver a pleasant visual result with a triadic scheme than when you use a complementary scheme.
