The Color Wheel is a tool that most of us were introduced to back when we were in grade school, perhaps in one of those sessions in simple art class. Back then, it’d seemed like something amusing only if you keep on spinning and matching the colors. If you’ve decided to take up advanced art, slowly you come to realize that the seemingly lowly color wheel is one of the best friends an artist can have, if befriended correctly. The great thing about the infinite wisdom that the color wheel provides is that you can apply it to almost anything—it’s not compartmentalized to work for a certain category only—you can use it for painting, graphic design, interior design, advertising and a whole lot more.
The color wheel is very useful in the sense that all the color combinations you can come up with will work with one another and produce eye-pleasing and aesthetic results. Even if you have little knowledge regarding color theory, you can make the color wheel work for you, with just a little common sense. Used correctly, the colors schemes you can get from a color wheel will guarantee you good, high-contrast results. Here are some basic color schemes and when and how you can use them:
Monochromatic. Monochromatic consists of different tints/shades of one color. It’s the most basic color scheme and the safest, too. Many beginners work with this one before moving on to other kinds of color scheme. Though, this color scheme also has setbacks. Being composed of only one color (although in varying shades or tones) makes the site less vibrant because of the lack of diversity. An exception is the two-color black-and-white scheme, which can be easily done in Photoshop by desaturating a layout and saving to sitegrinder.
Analogous. When colors that are adjacent to each other are used, the effect is an analogous color theme. This color theme is often found in nature and creates a pleasing effect to the eyes. They match well and create peaceful atmospheres. In using analogous colors, pick a color to dominate, another to support, and the last as an accent to the two colors. It is also relatively easy to balance this color combination.
Complementary. This color scheme is created by using two colors at the opposite sides of the color wheel. Almost opposite to the monochromatic color theme, it creates a very vibrant look, especially when used at full saturation. The disadvantage though is that they are tricky to use, and one should think of attempting easier color themes first before moving on to complementary color themes.
Triadic. A Triadic color scheme uses colors that are evenly spaced in the color wheel. An example is green, violet, and orange. In using this color, one should dominate, while the other two can serve as accents.
Split-complementary. Split complementary color theme is composed of a base color, and two other colors adjacent to its complement. This is one of the good choices for people just starting t use color schemes, because it is easy to use.
Those are just some of the color themes that you can apply to your site. These would be best to keep in mind when playing with Photoshop and sitegrinder review in making a layout. Remember, though, that color themes can’t change the quality of the other parts of your website, so it would be best not entirely solely on design, but on content as well.
Filed under Astronomy Software by astronomy_fan
