Background: Mascot (Option 2)

Color Theory

Though simple on the surface, color has the potential to be one of the more complicated design fundamentals - and it's often the difference between success and failure in a design.

Take a look at this fantastic video from the Design Dojo for a rundown of some of the basic terminology we’ll be addressing when we talk about color theory. Pay close attention to how each element particularly affects the color.

We recommend you also take a look at colormatters.com for a full overview of color theory - it reminds you of the basics like primary and secondary colours, the color wheel, color harmony and color context.

Though these simpler concepts are crucial, discussions about color theory can become incredibly deep very quickly. The chart below gives you just some idea of how complex the world of color can be.

As you can see there are some pretty deep concepts to address when talking about the interplay between different colors - for example, complimentary (colors that go well together) and discordant (colors that don’t) relationships both have their place in design, and there’s a skill in recognising when to use certain combinations of colors.

Color also controls and defines many abstract factors of your design including the mood, purpose and meaning. Color is often used symbolically as an important part of graphics design, to the point that color symbolism could almost be considered a language in its own right.

Don’t forget Adobe have a great color theory website: https://color.adobe.com