Color theory-Basic Level

color and its importance

“One of the most versatile elements of an ad is color. It can attract attention and helps in creating a mood. Depending on the product and the advertising appeal, color can be used for a number of reasons.”

Designs come to life only when we fill it with colors. Color and design always have the strong relationship and they go hand to hand. Color has the great impact on the human behavior and in creating, changing and representing the mood. Color is an attention-getting device with few exceptions people notice a color ad more readily than one in black and white.

Every designer always choose the color that go best with the brand, idea, product and other important features. Every color has a special meaning and associated with the human psychology.

E.g.: -Cool, passive environments are created with blues and pastels, red denotes excitement and warmth and yellow suggests springtime and youth.

Certain products can only be presented realistically in color. Household furnishings, food, many clothing and fashion accessories and cosmetics would lose most of their appeal if advertised in black and white.

Primary Colors

There are three primary colors.All other colors are driven from these primary color.We have the Red, Blue and yellow which are know as the basic or primary color

Complimentary colors

Complimentary colors are those colors which are opposite to the primary colors. These are the colors formed by mixing the primary colors.
eg:- Red-green, Yellow- Violet, Blue- orange

Tertiary Colors

These are the colors formed by mixing a primary and a secondary color. That's why the hue is a two word name, such as blue-green, red-violet, and yellow-orange.
eg:- Yellow-Orange, Red-Orange, Red-Purple, Blue-Purple, Blue-Green and Yellow-Green.

Color what they reflect?

As I said earlier before that color affect the human psychology.So, every color is having its own meaning and every designer should have the good knowledge of the colors and its meaning to make the creative design weather it is print or web.A good sense of color combination can make wonders.So,here are some colors and there meaning

Pink - Softness
Green - Right direction and freshness
Brown – Old
Orange – Future
Violet – Royalty
Blue – Cool, passive environment
Red – Excitement and Warmth
Yellow – Spring time and Youth.

It is just a basic tour to the color theory.I hope it will help you.
Thanks.

Reference websites
color scheme

kuler