Elements of Design -

Colour
AKA - How to manipulate graphic
tools in a Way that the Human
Eye Likes to View Them
ocus !tatement " COLOUR
Look at the following sli#es with the intentions of focusing
on$
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what the &E! e'amples ha(e in common
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how the &E! e'amples #iffer from the )*
e'amples
Don+t focus on the su,-ect of the picture. rather/ focus on
the effect that the image has on you with regar#s to you
recogni0ing how colour is use# in each composition1
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Can you #efine C*L*23 yet4
% Colour is the most comple' element of the (isual (oca,ulary
% Knowle#ge of colour theory gi(es the artist the skills to mi' an# to change ,asic hues
% Colour is ma#e up of 5 #istinct properties $
" Hue 6the specific name of a colour " it is colour in its purest form e'1 3e#7
" Value 6relati(e lightness or #arkness of a colour " the a##ition of white creates 8tints9 an# the a##ition of ,lack creates 8sha#es97
" :ntensity 6the relati(e ,rightness or #ullness of the colour7
% Colour can create strong moo# ,y ,eing warm or cool or gloomy1 ;y staying in a specific colour scheme/ you can create unity in your
composition1
% Colour is the strongest emotional element an# can ,e use# to sym,oli0e i#eas/ an# to e'press personal emotions1
% Colour can ,e manipulate# to ha(e a specific inten#e# impact that is generally <uite pre#icta,le 6e'1 3e#s are either cheerful an#
e'citing an# passionate/ ,ut can also represent anger/ so items #epicte# in re# a,sor, the emotion that re# can create7
% Check out this link on colour theory
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:n the pre(ious &E! e'amples/ C*L*23 playe# a pi(otal role1 :t
create# the message or the moo#/ create# a unifie# composition/ an#
ma#e you respon# emotionally1 :t force# your eye to the focus of the
photo1 :t ma#e you look somewhere specific1
Does this use C*L*23
effecti(ely4
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&es1 The strength of the
yellow colour ,rings strong
attention to the flower in the
foregroun#/ an# less to its
greenery1 Last in importance
is the #arker tones of the
,ackgroun#1 They rece#e
an# the ,rightness of the
flower ,rings it e(en more
forwar# than it really is1
:s this an e'ample of goo# use of
C*L*234
% or sure= This is a classic
e'ample of contrast in colour
making something stan# out
strongly1 The ,lue also
creates a (ery soft an#
calming effect1 Despite the
fact that many -ellyfish are
poisonous/ you+# actually
want to reach out an# touch
something so lo(ely/ woul#n+t
you4 The contrast against
the stark ,lack ,ackgroun#
intensifies the colour as well1
C*L*234
% )o1 While the (alues of the ,lue
create mo(ement/ the only thing the
,lue really #oes in its own right is to
create the calm feeling1 )otice that
nothing is lost when you change this
image from ha(ing (alue to strictly
ha(ing tone1
A strong e'ample of
C*L*234
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)ot really1 Colour
#oesn+t #o anything to
make the focus 6the
com,ines7 stan# out/
an# it #oesn+t really
create any interest1 The
colours are washe# out
an# somewhat
o(ere'pose#/ typical of
not changing camera
settings on a sun-
,laste# summer #ay1
C*L*234
% Definitely an interesting use of
colour in an une'pecte# way1 The
negati(e space 6not the su,-ect "
the ,ackgroun#7 is the colourful
item/ an# the positi(e space 6the
su,-ect " the ,ir#7 is the silhouette
an# therefore colourless1 The
colours make you focus on
#ifferent #etails of the ,ir# than
you pro,a,ly woul# if the opposite
was true1 How often #o we notice
a ,ir#+s feet4 Howe(er/ we #o
here ,ecause our eye is taken
there ,y the strong re#s in lines
that force our eye there1 Definitely
creati(e an# une'pecte#=