Name ____________________________

Period ____ COLOR FACTS WORKSHEET

The _______________ colors are RED, YELLOW, and BLUE. Mix two primary colors to get the __________________ colors. The traditional secondary colors are _____________ (Red plus Yellow), ________________ (Yellow plus Blue), and __________________ (Blue plus Red). The way we see color is a bit different. You've probably seen a ________break a beam of light into a rainbow of colors. The visible spectrum of light breaks down into three color regions:______, ________, and________. Add RED, GREEN, and BLUE (RGB) light to create WHITE light. Because you ADD the colors together to get White, we call these the ______________primaries. Subtract one of the colors from the other three and you are left with yet another color. RGB minus RED leaves CYAN. RGB minus the BLUE leaves YELLOW. RGB minus GREEN leaves MAGENTA. These are called the __________ primaries (CMY).

Your computer monitor emits light so it stands to reason that the computer uses the three color regions of . :______, ________, and________. to reproduce the colors we see. Each of these individual colors is a ______. Red is a hue. Blue is a hue. Purple is a hue. What is a hue? _______ You can change _______ the of a hue by adding black (shadow) or white light). The amount of saturation gives us our________ and _________ colors. Add varying amounts of black to ________. Think of the coming darkness and the darkening shadows to remember a hue plus black equals a _______. Add varying amounts of white to lighten a hue. The light hues are _______. Several factors affect the way we perceive color. One of those factors can be shown by the position of colors on the color wheel in relation to other colors. These color wheels (below) take out the all or some of the transitional colors so that you can more readily see the relationship of the colors to one another. Adjacent colors (next to each other) _______________with one another. They work well together (usually). For example: Green and Yellow or Purple and Magenta. Generally one of the colors has a little touch of the other in it (i.e. with the Blue/Magenta pair, Magenta is made up of Red and Blue Colors separated by another color are ______________colors. You may also see these referred to as complementary. Red and Green are ____________ colors. The more transitional colors separating two get that

Name ____________________________

Period ____

colors, the greater the contrast. For example, Magenta and Orange are not as high contrast as Magenta and Yellow. Colors that are directly opposite from one another are said to clash. You'll note that these clashes occur between primary/complementary or ADDITIVE/SUBSTRACTIVE pairs such as Blue and Yellow or Green and Magenta. While these terms can be useful, they can also be deceiving. The term harmonize sounds nice, pleasant. But some harmonizing colors may appear washed out (yellow/green) or too dark and similar (blue/purple) to work well together. While contrast is often needed to provide optimum readability (such as high contrast between background and text) contrasting colors on the color wheel when printed side by side can appear to vibrate and be very tiring on the eye. Although it sounds bad, sometimes clashing colors can work together in a design depending on the amount of color and how close they appear together on the page or screen. Some of the ambiguities of these color combinations can be alleviated with the introduction of black and white, dark and light, shades and tints. Previously we defined shades as the addition of BLACK to a hue (color) and tint as the addition of WHITE to a hue. In using adjacent or harmonizing colors, you can achieve a greater degree of legibility by adding black or white to one of the hues. WHITE is the ultimate light color and contrasts well with dark colors such as red, blue, or purple. BLACK is the ultimate dark color and makes lighter colors such as yellow really pop out. Any single or multiple colors can change or rather our perception of them changes due to the other surrounding colors, the proximity of the colors to each other, and the amount of light. A light color appears even lighter when it is adjacent to a dark color (including black). Two similar colors side by side may appear as two distinct colors but placed far apart they start to look like the same color. The amount of light we perceive in a color is also affected by the surface on which it is printed. A shiny RED corvette printed in a magazine ad on slick, glossy paper is not going to look the same as the RED corvette printed in the newspaper ad. The papers absorb and reflect light and color differently. Additionally, our color choices are often dictated by the emotions that specific colors and color combinations evoke. But once we have the colors we want, getting them to print or display as intended is the next step. In four-color process printing, to reproduce full-color continuous-tone color, we use four specific colors. These process colors are cyan (C), yellow (Y), magenta (M) (the SUBTRACTIVE colors from our color wheel), and black (K). The perception of millions of colors is achieved not by mixing these colors of ink but by printing thousands of tiny dots of each color in different sizes and patterns. The viewers eye "mixes" the colors and sees more than the four colors of CMYK (or sometimes, CYMK). In four-color process printing, rather than specifying specific colors, you create separations [def.] a different copy of your artwork for each of the four colors. Each copy is printed one on top of the other to create the optical effect of full-color.

Name ____________________________

Period ____

What colors mean and which colors go together

Color is more than a combination of red and blue or yellow and black. It is non-verbal communication. Colors have symbolism and meanings that go beyond ink. As you design brochures, logos, and Web sites, it is helpful to keep in mind how the eye and the mind perceive certain colors. Sometimes colors create a physical reaction (red has been shown to raise blood pressure) and at other times it is a cultural reaction (in the U.S. white is for weddings, in some Eastern cultures, white is the color for mourning and funerals). Colors follow trends as well. Avocado, a shade of green, is synonymous with the 60s and 70s in the minds of some consumers. In addition to understanding color meanings, it helps with mixing and matching colors to know the relationship of adjacent, complementary, and clashing colors. Adjacent or harmonizing colors appear next to each other on the color wheel. Harmonizing colors often work well together but if too close in value they can appear washed out or not have enough contrast. Clashing or contrasting colors are separated by another color on the color wheel. Despite the name, colors that clash are not always a bad combination if used carefully. They provide great contrast and high visibility. Complementary colors are directly opposite each other on the color wheel. Complementary colors printed side by side can cause visual vibration making them a less than desirable combination. However, separate them on the page with other colors and they can work together. On each of the cool, warm, mixed, and neutral pages are links to profiles of specific groups of colors with descriptions of their nature, cultural color meanings, how to use each color in design work, and which colors work best together. Cool Color Meanings (calming): Blue, Green, Turquoise, Silver Warm Color Meanings (exciting): Red, Pink, Yellow, Gold, Orange Mixed Cool/Warm Color Meanings: Purple, Lavender, Green, Turquoise Neutral Color Meanings (unifying): Brown, Beige, Ivory, Gray, Black, White

THE COLOR OF CALM Cool colors tend to have a calming effect. At one end of the spectrum they are cold, impersonal, antiseptic colors. At the other end the cool colors are comforting and nurturing. Blue, green, and the neutrals white, gray, and silver are examples of cool colors. In nature blue is water and green is plant life - a natural, life-sustaining duo. Combine blues and greens for natural, watery color palettes. Heat up a too cool color palette with a dash of warm colors such as red or orange. If you want warmth with just a blue palette, choose deeper blues with a touch of red but not quite purple or almost black deep navy blues. Cool colors appear smaller than warm colors and they visually recede on the page so red can visually overpower and stand out over blue even if used in equal amounts. THE COLORS OF EXCITEMENT Warm colors rev us up and get us going. The warmth of red, yellow, or orange can create excitement or even anger. Warm colors convey emotions from simple optimism to strong violence. The neutrals of black and brown also carry warm attributes.

Name ____________________________

Period ____

In nature, warm colors represent change as in the changing of the seasons or the eruption of a volcano. Tone down the strong emotions of a warm palette with some soothing cool or neutral colors or by using the lighter side of the warm palette such as pinks, pale yellows, and peach. Warm colors appear larger than cool colors so red can visually overpower blue even if used in equal amounts. Warm colors appear closer while their cool counterparts visually recede on the page. The profiles for each of these warm colors include descriptions of their nature, cultural color meanings, how to use each color in design work, and which colors work best together. THE COLORS OF INTRIGUE Colors with attributes from both the warm and cool colors can calm and excite. These are colors derived from a mix of a cool and warm color such as blue and red or blue and yellow. A cool blue and a warm red combine to create deep purples and pale lavenders. To a lesser extent, shades of green, especially turquoise and teal, also have both the warming and cooling effects born of warm yellow and cool blue. Some light neutrals such as cream, pale beige, and taupe evoke some of the same warm and cool feelings of purples and greens. The opposite or clashing color for purple is green and for green, purple. The profiles for each of these mixed colors include descriptions of their nature, cultural color meanings, how to use each color in design work, and which colors work best together. NEUTRAL COLORS The neutral colors of black, white, silver, gray, and brown make good backgrounds, serve to unify diverse color palettes, and also often stand alone as the only or primary focus of a design. Neutral colors help to put the focus on other colors or serve to tone down colors that might otherwise be overpowering on their own. To some extent blacks, browns, tans, golds, and beige colors are considered warm. While white, ivory, silver, and gray are somewhat cooler colors. Yet these warm and cool attributes are flexible and more subtle than that of reds or blues. TRIAD COLORS Think Triangle! when the triangle is turned inside the color wheel it points to the triad colors

TETRAD COLORS Think X or Square the tetrad colors are at the points.