Color Contrast Archives

Whether you’re proficient in design or not, you ought to possess at least a single grain of knowledge about color contrast. It’s a principle that can be seen everywhere, although it’s mostly prominent in graphic design and other art-related fields. Color contrast refers to the stark visual differences that make an object distinct from others. The polarity of black and white, two colors known to be the ultimate opposites, is a classic example that illustrates this design principle. As a designer, however, you need to learn to work on a more diverse palette that transcends these two so that you can explore other ways of achieving color contrast.

The Importance of Contrast in Design

Understanding Color Contrast in Graphic Design

A simple way to weed out amateur designers from the cream of the crop is by judging the way they apply contrast in their work. Contrast—whether it be of shapes, typography, or color—is the foundation of every artistic masterpiece. You have to be conscious of how you use it since it can be the single most important element that can make or break your design. Color is one of the first things that register in our subconscious when we look at a work of art. A design piece that fails to employ color contrast effectively can result to a jarring spectacle that can strain the audience’s eyes and cause them to withdraw their gaze. As all designers can agree on, there’s no thought worse than knowing that nobody wants to see the fruits of their labor.

Color contrast is important for three reasons:

It attracts the eye. People are subconsciously drawn to artworks that use contrast seamlessly. This principle is attractive to the eye because it creates visual interest. When done correctly, color contrast shouldn’t be noticed. When done the wrong way, however, it glares like a flagrant sin.
It reinforces an idea. Colors carry a certain weight, so when they’re used effectively, they can impact viewers manifold. Use color contrast to strengthen your message.
It shows hierarchy. Color contrast can create a focal point and establish a hierarchy of importance in your design. With this design principle, you can draw people to a certain area of a page without telling them outright that it’s what they should focus on.

Make sure to strike a balance when applying color contrast. Using this design principle excessively is just as bad as not applying it at all.

Johannes Itten’s Seven Kinds of Color Contrast

Mastering color contrast is just like mastering any other skill—it takes practice. There are no hard and fast rules, no shortcuts, and no magic formulas that you can count on. Cultivate your eye for design and work hard on finetuning it. To better understand color contrast, you need to learn its different aspects and forms. Johannes Itten, a Swiss expressionist painter, was among the first to make a theory about the possible types of color contrast. Here are seven of them:

1. Contrast of hue

Hue refers to the name of a specific color that is typically found on the color wheel. You don’t have to apply hues in their purest forms since they might clash. You can lighten or darken them to resemble real-life contexts. When used right, the contrast of hue can create a vivid effect on your design.

2. Contrast of saturation

Saturation refers to the purity of a color; that’s why this type of contrast is also known as the contrast of pure colors. A color in its brightest form is 100% saturated, but by diluting its intensity, you can abate its impact to create a better effect. You can desaturate a color by mixing it with white (tints), black (shades), or gray (tones). When used well, the contrast of saturation can be a unifying factor that leads to a harmonious composition in your design.

3. Contrast of temperature

Mixing warm (red, orange, yellow) and cold (blue, violet, green) colors in a design is also another form of color contrast. This type of contrast can create a dramatic effect, especially when one side is dominant and the other is subservient.

4. Contrast of simultaneity

This refers to the effect colors have on each other. It is derived from the law of complementary colors, in which colors cancel each other out to produce an achromatic light mixture (white, gray, or black). This means that if a certain color is absent, the eye will produce its complement.

5. Contrast of extension

Also known as the contrast of proportion, the contrast of extension refers to the effect of amplifying the impact of a certain color by placing it in a dominant spot. This type of contrast underlines the fact that colors can appear weaker or more dominant depending on their arrangement or placement in a design. When using this, keep in mind that the dominant color shouldn’t overpower the surrounding hues but rather unify them.

6. Contrast of dark and light colors

This type of contrast refers to the brightness of colors—how light or dark they are. Playing light and dark hues off of each other will make your design more powerful and dramatic. Using a high light/dark contrast will allow you to determine which parts of your design are the most important.

7. Contrast of complements

This refers to color pairings that tend to intensify both colors. As you know, complementary colors occupy opposite positions in the color wheel. When adjacent, they intensify each other’s power, but when mixed, they nullify each other by producing a grayish black hue. Exploring color contrast can take your design to the next level. Use it to its optimum and watch your masterpieces soar into new heights, making you worthy of the title, “designer.”

Resources:

Aaberg, Kasper. “Color Contrast: All About the Difference.” Love of Graphics. n.d. www.loveofgraphics.com/graphicdesign/color/colorcontrast Farley, Jennifer. “Principles of Design: Contrast.” SitePoint. December 3, 2009. www.sitepoint.com/principles-of-design-contrast

Jones, Henry. “The Principle of Contrast in Web Design.” Web Design Ledger. February 3, 2010. webdesignledger.com/the-principle-of-contrast-in-web-design

Kliever, Jane. “Designing with Contrast: 20 Tips from a Designer (with Case Studies).” Canva. September 22, 2015. designschool.canva.com/blog/contrasting-colors

O’Nolan, John. “Fully Understanding Contrast in Design.” Web Designer Depot. September 17, 2010. www.webdesignerdepot.com/2010/09/fully-understanding-contrast-in-design

Roach, Nick. “Four Quick Tips for Improving Color Harmony in Your Theme Customizations.” Elegant Themes. August 26, 2013. www.elegantthemes.com/blog/resources/four-quick-tips-for-improving-color-harmony-in-your-theme-customizations

“It’s Not Just Black and White: Understanding the Importance of Contrast in Graphic Design.” Pluralsight. March 9, 2014. www.pluralsight.com/blog/creative-professional/just-black-white-using-contrast-get-attention-graphic-designs

Corrigan, Dennis & Hoffer, Peter. “The Seven Color Contrasts: Based on the Work of Johannes Itten.” Marywood. n.d. www.marywood.edu/dotAsset/45ee9b19-5c3a-47bc-974b-47436488e792.pdf

Do you know the difference between making a tie-dye shirt and a corporate presentation? Most people don’t seem to.

You wouldn’t go out in a red suit with green polka dots that has purple sparkles, yellow buttons, and shiny silver stars (unless you’re a clown at a birthday party, in which case…no judgment), so why dress your investor presentation like that? Color is like a magical potion, it can change our mood in a matter of seconds, without us even realizing it. While it’s a powerful tool to wield in your PowerPoint presentations, it’s important to utilize color correctly, because using the wrong colors will often leave your presentation worse off than if you had just left it in black and white.

We’ll divide our advice into two categories: how to contrast colors in a presentation, and how to choose the background colors for it.

Color Contrast:

-Avoid putting colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel on top one another (background and text) in any slide. This is particularly true for green and red, but the heavy contrast can have a straining effect on the eyes, making your audience grow tired from viewing your presentation.

Color Wheel by Excalibur — When choosing colors for your PowerPoint slide, it’s best not to layer colors that are opposite one another on the color wheel.

-15 to 25 percent of men have at least some mild color blindness, usually having trouble distinguishing between red and green, blue and black, or blue and purple. Avoid putting these colors too close to one another.

-Less is more: If you’ve established that you’re not making a tie-dye shirt, keep it simple and professional. Leave the creative endeavors to the professional presentation designers.

Color psychology:

Different colors carry specific connotations depending on the culture you find yourself in. For the sake of convenience, we’ll stick to western culture. The following colors can have a significant emotional impact when used as a background color:

Pink: Despite being a generally warm, pleasing color, it carries a connotation that denotes a lack or seriousness, and is generally regarded as unprofessional.

Red: This one’s tricky, and there is a bit of dispute over its practical use. It’s been shown to increase heart rate, which is often associated with agitation and restlessness, but it can also be associated with passion and desire. Use with caution, and avoid as a default background tone.

Blue: Typically regarded as a safe, calming color. However, because of this, it’s become so common in the business world that it’s now often regarded as unoriginal. Try blending different shades of blue and getting a little creative with it.

Green: Associated with financial success and interaction; usually a safe color for any business or presentation.

Black: Regarded as the most neutral of all colors, in regard to eliciting an emotional response. It also signifies finality, which can be useful in financial presentations.

While obtaining a rough understanding of color psychology will no doubt benefit you in your own PowerPoint presentations, it’s no match for the creative and graphic design expertise found with professional presentation designers.

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Understanding Color Contrast in Graphic Design