COLOUR THEORY 3 - 4

CONTRAST + COLOUR

Understanding things by contrast of the world around us, perception.

ITTEN'S 7 CONTRASTS

Tone: Formed by the juxtaposition of light and dark values. This could be monochromatic 'one colour'.

Hue: The greater the distance between hues on a colour wheel the greater the contrast. The impact of tone and hue effects the readability and legibility.

These words are exactly the same but variations of the backgrounds, this has an impact on how the words are read.

Saturation: Formed by light and dark values and their relative saturations.

The centre yellow is the brightest and the colours surrounding it are gradual tints and saturations of that colour.

Extension: Formed by assigning proportional field sizes in relation to the visual weight of a colour. Also know as the contrast of proportion. Colour in a spacial quality. 

• Dark colours = heavy. 
• Lighter colours = lighter. 

The amount of colour next to the another colour changes how we perceive it. 

Temperature: Hues that can be considered warm or cold. Also known as the temperature wheel. 

Source

• Blue = Cold. 
• Orange = Warm

The black lines allow you to see the solid colours but when they are taken away the form a continuous gradient.

Complimentary: Complementary colours formed by juxtaposing colours on the wheel.

Putting the most extreme contrasts together like black and white. The colours green and red are complimentary colours due to them being on opposing sides of the colour wheel.

Simulations: Formed when boundaries between colours perceptually vibrate.

Putting high contrast colours together can make the colour look as though they are merging into one another creating a visual vibration. This is also created when a high contrast colour is put onto a light background and then taken away you can still see the outlines of the colour.

Further reading:

• Design Principles: Guidelines For Contrasts
• Ittens 7 Contrasts
• Love of graphics
• Colour Combinations
• 10 Rules of Contrast

SUBJECTIVE COLOUR

Probably the hardest concept to fully grasp about colour is that colour is all in your head.  It’s a sensation, just like touch. Like any other sensation it’s (usually) caused by physical reality. But it doesn't have any physical reality of it’s own–at least not outside your body. And–this is the hard part– colour is not a property of the thing that’s causing the sensation. In other words, grass is not green and the sky is not blue. Rather, they have physical properties that make you perceive green and blue, but even that’s true only in some circumstances. -Subjective Colour

The yellow really stands out when but is illegible due to the size and weight. However when its small the colour and type has more impact.

Colour starts to control its surroundings. Neutral grey background against the colours creates a visual simulation. When you stare to the yellow a violet hue appears. The blue however is more dominant because its closer in tonal values.

Neutral colour can be affected by surrounding colour.

The desaturated tab on the right makes the block look lighter. However the colour of the line never changes optically.

The more you look at the text and background elements of violet emit from it.

These subjective colours are known as simulations

Jasper Johns American flag painting.

If you stare at the small dot in the centre of the flag for 30 seconds or more, then look away at a white surface, you should see an after image of the United State flag in its usual (complementary) colours.