How to Not Suck at Color - 5 color theory tips every designer should know

why is working with color so hard it's part art part science and if you don't know what you're doing mostly just frustrating hello friend i'm greg gunn and i'm here to help you make better color choices in this video i'll share five tips to keep in mind for whenever you find yourself struggling with a color wheel these are fundamental concepts that every artist and designer should know and understand and each one of them will help your work look more dynamic and cohesive that being said if you do want to learn color theory and go deeper about how to use it in your own work then check out my course color for creatives we cover everything you'd ever want to know about color theory as for the rest of you here comes tip number one color harmonies people love to ask hey greg where do i even start with color it's a good question and my answer to them is always start with color harmonies color harmonies are historically proven science-backed techniques to pair colors together in visually pleasing ways which sounds way more complicated than it actually is in fact you probably already know some color harmony terms like monochromatic complementary and analogous all they do is describe the relationship between where these colors are on the color wheel some apps even have color harmony tools built right into them like adobe illustrator's color guide and procreate's color harmony tool okay let's say you love this orange but you're not quite sure what to pair with it color harmonies to the rescue you can play with different harmonies see what you like and then adjust to taste in this case i'm feeling like split complimentary is the move so if you're not quite sure where to start consider a color harmony all you need to do is find one color that you like and then let science do the rest tip number two neutral colors neutral colors are like the supporting cast for your lead colors they can be warm cool light or dark and they tend to recede into the background leaving room for your big bold color choices the most common neutral colors are blacks whites grays and browns and their most notable trait is that you can't really tell what the underlying color is hence the term neutral the benefit of using neutrals is that they offer visual relief from your primary colors and by contrast they make those colors stand out that much more think of them like negative space but for color and you probably need more than you think tip number three less is more the most common color mistake i see is overuse and the second most common is over saturation the more colors you have to work with the more difficult it becomes to get them to work together if they're all bold bright and vibrant it can become a real mess and i get it i love using all the colors we've got this endless supply of digital crayons why not use the whole box and you know what we totally should just maybe not all at the same time and on the same project think about when you cook you don't use all the spices from the rack just the ones that you know will make the dish taste really good so before you go wild with color think about the mood you want to create the visual flavor so to speak because maybe all you need is some salt pepper and smoked paprika start with two colors and maybe two neutrals see how that goes you can always add more later tip number four contrast okay want to know the real secret about using color well contrast it sounds counterintuitive but the way your image looks in grayscale will determine how good it looks in full color the value of a color as in its lightness is almost more important than the color itself because without enough light and dark contrast your image will be lost and at that point the colors don't really matter low contrast is a great way to frustrate and alienate people from your work especially when typography is involved not only will low contrast make something difficult to read see or experience but it can render your message illegible or even invisible to people with color blindness which is why having strong contrast especially with type is crucial to accessible design my general rule of thumb if it works in grayscale it'll work in color so get in the habit of checking your color values the easiest way to do that convert your work to grayscale and if you're using photoshop set your proof mode to grayscale and then tap command y or control y to toggle a black and white preview and big ups to mark obuchi for that clever time saving tip tip number five aim for balance working with color is a lot like playing an instrument you want things to just kind of naturally flow you don't want to play the same chord at the same speed at the same volume throughout the whole song it'll get really boring and this is coming from a guy who loves metal imagine your colors are musical notes [Music] you want to make sure there's a nice range of values of hues and of saturation it's all about the relationships between colors you can't have light without dark and everything else in between not every color needs to be a star either let one or two take the lead and then have the rest keep rhythm remember neutral colors [Music] they're the rhythm section also think about how much of each color you're using the 60 30 10 rule is a great place to start in this case we'd use our primary sixty percent of the time our neutrals thirty percent and save our accent color for the very last ten percent striking the right balance with colors is tough it's like the sum of the first four tips you want harmonious colors room to breathe and plenty of contrast bonus tip now despite what you might hear strangers on youtube tell you there are no hard and fast rules for using color there are best practices and methods that work really well like color harmonies but ultimately it's a subjective experience so my last tip for you is this make your own rules it's your work you can use whatever colors you want however you want my two cents though just be consistent in how you use them that way we the viewer understand what the rules are and we have a much better experience so if you want to make your highlights green and your shadow colors orange go for it just make sure that all your shadows and highlights follow suit like i said up front working with color can be really frustrating which is why understanding concepts like color harmonies and contrast is so important i gave you six tips in this video but if there's one thing i hope you take away it's the concept of balance striking the right balance between contrast quantity and color usage is what will make the biggest difference in your work so remember color is a lot like music each note has its place and the quiet moments are just as important as the loud ones what's your favorite color tip share it in the comments below and let's use the collective power of the internet to make a color tip mega thread also if you really want to step up your color game then consider taking my course we cover color theory how to build your own palette and work on a real project together you can learn more about it by visiting thefuture.com color and most importantly thank you for spending some of your time with me today see in the next one [Music] you

Channel: The Futur Academy

Views: 490,827

Keywords: futur academy, the futur, chris do, how to, design tutorial, graphic design, how to design, tutorial, color theory, color harmony, color palette, color wheel, digital art, how to pick colors for art, color contrast, procreate, photoshop, contrast ratio

Id: C1rQQ_YpgcI

Length: 7min 52sec (472 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 30 2021