BY: Colleen Jolly
Each color has several individual components that holistically create its identity as a ‘color.’ When you starting creating graphics or other aspects of visual communication that have more than one color you must not only consider the individual components of a singular color but how that color will interact with other colors.

Basic color theory involves understanding the placement of colors on a color wheel, which is a circle divided into 12 equal parts showing the interrelation between those colors based on their specific placement on the wheel. The visible spectrum of colors is divided into three main types—primary, secondary and tertiary. Primary colors are blue, red, and yellow. These colors cannot be mixed or derived from any other colors but can be mixed in various quantities to make every other visible color. Secondary colors—violet (or purple), orange, and green—are made when each primary color is mixed with each other (blue + red = violet, red + yellow = orange, yellow + blue = green). Tertiary colors are the blending of secondary colors with primary colors such as orange + red = orange red and blue + green = blue green. Placing the colors in a wheel easily shows the inherent interrelationships between color.

Colors that are next to or very near each other on the color wheel such as blue and green or blue and violet are known as analogous colors. These colors tend to look pleasant together but using too many similar colors may blend important information into the background of your presentation or proposal. Use complementary colors, colors that are opposite on the color wheel, such as green and red, yellow and violet, blue and orange, to make aspects of a busy graphic stand out. Notice that many of your favorite sports teams make use of these complementary combinations. In a process flow of blue boxes use orange circles or diamonds to represent key decisions or project-specific discriminators. Overusing complementary colors may be very harsh on the eyes and be visually jarring so use with care and to highlight key parts of information.

Josef Albers, a German-born artist and educator, famously worked at the Bauhaus school which combined arts and crafts before World War II and went on to teach at Yale University. He is one of the fathers of modern-day graphic design and it is from his work with the interactions of color that we have the basis of our understanding.  Read his book “Interaction of Color” to learn more.