1
00:00:04,448 --> 00:00:05,860
Describing color is hard.

2
00:00:06,464 --> 00:00:11,940
It's even more difficult when I explain something with a term and the other person uses a different one.

3
00:00:12,680 --> 00:00:15,780
So let's clarify the terms we use and what they mean.

4
00:00:16,500 --> 00:00:18,780
As I mentioned earlier, color is subjective.

5
00:00:19,720 --> 00:00:21,580
That makes common terminology important.

6
00:00:22,048 --> 00:00:22,148
You

7
00:00:22,944 --> 00:00:28,672
want to make sure you and your client or collaborator mean the same thing when you talk about the value, hue,

8
00:00:29,080 --> 00:00:29,600
or tone.

9
00:00:30,660 --> 00:00:32,900
Now, these are nitty-gritty facts about color.

10
00:00:33,440 --> 00:00:34,640
You may already know these,

11
00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:36,700
but it never hurts to have a refresher.

12
00:00:38,300 --> 00:00:41,400
Hue is the overall appearance of a set of colors.

13
00:00:42,944 --> 00:00:45,220
Several colors, such as these yellow variations,

14
00:00:45,640 --> 00:00:48,800
can have the same hue relating to a dominant color.

15
00:00:49,140 --> 00:00:49,240
For

16
00:00:51,008 --> 00:00:55,180
example, the photograph by Marion Post Walcott has a sepia hue.

17
00:00:56,780 --> 00:01:02,560
This poster for the London Underground by Abram Games has several colors,

18
00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:05,020
but the dominant hue is mustard yellow.

19
00:01:08,288 --> 00:01:11,540
Saturation is the intensity and brilliance of a color.

20
00:01:11,740 --> 00:01:11,840
The

21
00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:18,000
colors become more extreme and neon when one pushes the saturation tool higher in Photoshop.

22
00:01:19,300 --> 00:01:22,140
The posters on the left have low saturation,

23
00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:25,560
while the right side is brighter and has high saturation.

24
00:01:28,128 --> 00:01:33,500
Intense saturation works best on screen-based media or with fluorescent inks.

25
00:01:34,760 --> 00:01:38,900
The value defines the darkness or lightness of a color.

26
00:01:39,120 --> 00:01:39,220
For

27
00:01:39,808 --> 00:01:45,640
example, this extraordinary wall painting by Andrea del Sardo in Florence has a range of green values.

28
00:01:45,940 --> 00:01:46,176
The

29
00:01:46,816 --> 00:01:51,904
Vasarely Cubism Blue Book is a perfect example of color values of blue.

30
00:01:53,184 --> 00:01:56,120
Tone refers to the amount of gray added to a color.

31
00:01:56,320 --> 00:01:56,448
Add

32
00:01:56,960 --> 00:01:58,040
gray to the yellow,

33
00:01:58,140 --> 00:01:59,840
and you create a muted version.

34
00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:03,400
Less gray, and the tone is more saturated or brilliant.

35
00:02:03,776 --> 00:02:08,700
Subtle tones, like this mustard, are often considered more sophisticated and mature.

36
00:02:09,060 --> 00:02:09,160
The

37
00:02:09,856 --> 00:02:12,320
wallpaper on the left has a darker tone.

38
00:02:12,520 --> 00:02:14,720
The one on the right has a lighter tone.

39
00:02:15,940 --> 00:02:16,040
This

40
00:02:17,088 --> 00:02:20,400
set of Tupperware food storage bowls has a dark tone,

41
00:02:20,520 --> 00:02:23,000
with brick red and avocado green.

42
00:02:25,010 --> 00:02:28,460
Here is a color wheel highlighting warm colors,

43
00:02:28,660 --> 00:02:30,304
and they convey warmth.

44
00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:31,100
We

45
00:02:32,704 --> 00:02:36,400
associate warm colors with energy, passion, and excitement.

46
00:02:36,720 --> 00:02:36,928
They

47
00:02:37,600 --> 00:02:40,160
stand out in a crowded environment like a street,

48
00:02:40,360 --> 00:02:43,140
wall of posters, or bookstore shelves.

49
00:02:43,940 --> 00:02:44,040
They

50
00:02:45,320 --> 00:02:51,780
work on stop signs and warning posters as a signal to pay attention to something that may be bad for you.

51
00:02:52,040 --> 00:02:52,140
And

52
00:02:54,140 --> 00:02:56,100
they can be dynamic and aggressive.

53
00:02:56,520 --> 00:03:02,100
The red here signifies the Red Bolshevik Army battling the White Russian Army.

54
00:03:02,620 --> 00:03:05,720
Here is a cool color wheel,

55
00:03:05,920 --> 00:03:07,936
and yep, they convey cool.

56
00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:08,544
Cool

57
00:03:09,600 --> 00:03:13,640
colors can add a sense of stability and loyalty, or at times,

58
00:03:13,940 --> 00:03:14,180
mystery.

59
00:03:14,520 --> 00:03:14,720
They

60
00:03:16,240 --> 00:03:19,240
are refreshing and connect to the environment and health.

61
00:03:19,620 --> 00:03:19,720
And

62
00:03:22,432 --> 00:03:24,840
cool colors will feel sturdy and honest,

63
00:03:25,040 --> 00:03:27,080
rather than passionate and fiery.

64
00:03:29,160 --> 00:03:31,340
Neutral colors appear to have no color,

65
00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:34,432
or minimal connection to a specific color.

66
00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:39,760
Neutral colors may work well in furniture or fashion,

67
00:03:39,920 --> 00:03:41,720
but unless managed skillfully,

68
00:03:41,900 --> 00:03:43,760
like this amazing poster by

69
00:03:44,040 --> 00:03:46,940
Ludwig Holwein, can be bland in graphic design.

70
00:03:47,320 --> 00:03:47,424
Here,

71
00:03:48,380 --> 00:03:51,360
the red vest is the most important element of the piece.

72
00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:51,840
And

73
00:03:52,380 --> 00:03:56,080
of course, the worst sin in design is to bore the audience.

74
00:03:56,980 --> 00:04:03,072
In the 1950s, Sloane Wilson's book, The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, used

75
00:04:03,648 --> 00:04:06,260
the neutral gray to signify bland,

76
00:04:06,520 --> 00:04:09,180
conformist, corporate, and suburban ideals.

77
00:04:09,900 --> 00:04:10,000
Neutral

78
00:04:10,784 --> 00:04:13,000
colors might be recessive at times,

79
00:04:13,080 --> 00:04:17,560
but like most colors, they are commanding when applied grammatically,

80
00:04:17,780 --> 00:04:19,940
like this postcard by Lou Danziger.

81
00:04:20,260 --> 00:04:20,512
Now

82
00:04:23,104 --> 00:04:24,640
let's explore how color works.

83
00:04:25,140 --> 00:04:25,376
Color

84
00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:28,860
theory is the science and art of color.

85
00:04:29,440 --> 00:04:36,740
Designers in the 1920s used scientific techniques with empirical experiments to study color design principles.

86
00:04:37,100 --> 00:04:39,200
These are the tenets we use today.

87
00:04:39,620 --> 00:04:39,808
Like

88
00:04:41,216 --> 00:04:43,540
learning to be a writer and understanding grammar,

89
00:04:43,940 --> 00:04:45,800
color theory is our language.

90
00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:47,860
And why not be fluent?

91
00:04:48,280 --> 00:04:48,448
We're

92
00:04:50,400 --> 00:04:53,840
so used to seeing big swatches of every possible color.

93
00:04:54,060 --> 00:04:54,304
The

94
00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:59,580
process can be more about picking from a huge assortment than creating the color yourself.

95
00:05:00,380 --> 00:05:02,120
When I was in school,

96
00:05:02,180 --> 00:05:08,520
I spent one semester painting little swatches of color repeatedly to create a perfect color wheel.

97
00:05:08,800 --> 00:05:08,992
The

98
00:05:09,500 --> 00:05:11,296
goal wasn't to make me a great painter.

99
00:05:11,500 --> 00:05:12,900
If it was, it failed.

100
00:05:13,940 --> 00:05:15,900
But to open my eyes to see color.

101
00:05:16,080 --> 00:05:19,560
It helped me understand the foundations of color theory.

102
00:05:20,160 --> 00:05:20,260
Isaac

103
00:05:22,144 --> 00:05:26,180
Newton based the first color wheel on the light seen through a prism.

104
00:05:26,460 --> 00:05:26,656
This

105
00:05:28,740 --> 00:05:30,500
is the color wheel based on his theory.

106
00:05:30,820 --> 00:05:34,900
These colors are the basis for any other colors within the spectrum.

107
00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:39,620
The primary colors are red, yellow, and blue.

108
00:05:40,060 --> 00:05:40,352
Now

109
00:05:41,140 --> 00:05:41,880
a little history.

110
00:05:42,120 --> 00:05:42,464
After

111
00:05:43,240 --> 00:05:45,760
World War I and throughout the 1920s,

112
00:05:45,780 --> 00:05:49,780
a group of designers and architects founded and taught at the Bauhaus,

113
00:05:50,020 --> 00:05:51,000
a school in Germany.

114
00:05:51,280 --> 00:05:51,584
They

115
00:05:52,200 --> 00:05:55,340
believed design could be the way to a future with no war,

116
00:05:55,520 --> 00:05:58,920
equality for everyone, and good design for the masses.

117
00:05:59,360 --> 00:05:59,616
Their

118
00:06:00,180 --> 00:06:03,360
goal was to create universal design without political,

119
00:06:03,640 --> 00:06:05,720
national, or economic boundaries.

120
00:06:06,240 --> 00:06:06,432
Primary

121
00:06:07,616 --> 00:06:12,840
colors were the basis for all other colors and the equivalent of basic math.

122
00:06:13,180 --> 00:06:13,536
Perfect

123
00:06:15,380 --> 00:06:16,864
geometry was mathematical,

124
00:06:17,280 --> 00:06:18,120
not subjective.

125
00:06:18,688 --> 00:06:19,008
Primary

126
00:06:19,776 --> 00:06:23,320
colors were not unique to one person's creative vision,

127
00:06:23,380 --> 00:06:25,880
like a shade of violet or pink might be.

128
00:06:26,260 --> 00:06:26,432
Everyone

129
00:06:27,136 --> 00:06:30,880
in the world would have the same primary red, blue, and yellow.

130
00:06:31,240 --> 00:06:31,616
Not

131
00:06:32,240 --> 00:06:34,880
a slightly orange-red or moss-green or ochre,

132
00:06:35,140 --> 00:06:37,660
but plain red, blue, or yellow.

133
00:06:38,570 --> 00:06:43,900
Fights broke out over the use of color and even using a 45-degree angle,

134
00:06:44,060 --> 00:06:45,500
not just 90 degrees.

135
00:06:45,860 --> 00:06:46,272
Red,

136
00:06:48,400 --> 00:06:53,460
yellow, and blue became the most basic and simple color palette learned by most people as children.

137
00:06:53,900 --> 00:06:54,080
Because

138
00:06:54,920 --> 00:06:56,520
the primary colors are universal,

139
00:06:56,900 --> 00:06:57,312
it's

140
00:06:57,824 --> 00:06:59,712
easier to reproduce them more consistently.

141
00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:00,512
Primary

142
00:07:01,376 --> 00:07:03,552
red is the same in California or Morocco.

143
00:07:04,060 --> 00:07:04,480
This

144
00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:07,480
leads to their dominance in corporate identity

145
00:07:07,840 --> 00:07:08,000
and the ability to create a more complex and more diverse design.

146
00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:08,340
Primary colors are the most common color options.

147
00:07:08,760 --> 00:07:09,248
The

148
00:07:10,440 --> 00:07:13,000
secondary colors are purple, orange, and green.

149
00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:13,632
Blue

150
00:07:14,960 --> 00:07:16,180
and yellow make green.

151
00:07:16,704 --> 00:07:19,180
Red and yellow create orange.

152
00:07:19,420 --> 00:07:21,900
And blue and red make purple.

153
00:07:22,200 --> 00:07:22,560
Together,

154
00:07:23,744 --> 00:07:25,600
they create secondary colors.

155
00:07:25,980 --> 00:07:26,336
Secondary

156
00:07:27,520 --> 00:07:30,200
colors are more distinctive than primary colors.

157
00:07:30,340 --> 00:07:31,500
They are less generic,

158
00:07:31,580 --> 00:07:37,320
and as such, secondary colors are more likely to be tied to a specific time and place.

159
00:07:37,840 --> 00:07:42,160
Such as purple, green, and orange feeling very 1960s.

160
00:07:42,180 --> 00:07:42,688
Or

161
00:07:43,980 --> 00:07:47,680
they may seem more unique and convey a more specific tone.

162
00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:48,416
And

163
00:07:49,140 --> 00:07:53,600
they're certainly more proprietary for a brand than a widely used primary color.

164
00:07:54,180 --> 00:07:54,280
Tertiary

165
00:07:55,776 --> 00:07:59,680
colors are combinations of primary and secondary colors.

166
00:07:59,940 --> 00:08:01,820
Sorry, I know this sounds like math.

167
00:08:02,180 --> 00:08:05,180
For example, yellow and orange make coral.

168
00:08:05,440 --> 00:08:07,136
Blue and green make turquoise.

169
00:08:07,840 --> 00:08:08,020
And so on.

170
00:08:08,260 --> 00:08:08,640
There

171
00:08:14,100 --> 00:08:15,500
are six tertiary colors,

172
00:08:15,700 --> 00:08:17,200
which create a wider palette.

173
00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:22,420
But these colors are more subjective and depend on the percentages of the mixing.

174
00:08:22,960 --> 00:08:23,136
Here,

175
00:08:23,808 --> 00:08:29,420
Lance Wyman's palette for the Mexico City Olympics show the range of tones possible with the primary,

176
00:08:29,920 --> 00:08:31,920
secondary, and tertiary colors.

177
00:08:34,140 --> 00:08:35,520
If one adds more yellow than green,

178
00:08:35,820 --> 00:08:38,360
the color changes from lime to chartreuse.

179
00:08:38,800 --> 00:08:39,168
A

180
00:08:40,200 --> 00:08:41,696
little less purple with red,

181
00:08:41,824 --> 00:08:42,460
and we get violet.

182
00:08:43,040 --> 00:08:44,420
Or is that lilac?

183
00:08:44,720 --> 00:08:48,560
You can see that this is where the names of colors get confusing.

184
00:08:48,940 --> 00:08:51,540
Don't worry, I'll cover that in the next lesson.

185
00:08:53,984 --> 00:08:57,080
Complementary colors don't flatter the other colors with kind words.

186
00:08:57,480 --> 00:09:00,820
They're the colors opposite each other on the color wheel.

187
00:09:04,140 --> 00:09:04,940
Colors can be dynamic,

188
00:09:05,220 --> 00:09:08,880
but easily feel jarring or create vibrating relationships.

189
00:09:09,560 --> 00:09:10,144
Or,

190
00:09:11,300 --> 00:09:12,900
when used with a lighter value,

191
00:09:13,140 --> 00:09:14,460
create a sense of nature.

192
00:09:17,640 --> 00:09:18,880
Analogous colors are technically

193
00:09:19,460 --> 00:09:21,700
three colors next to each other on the color wheel.

194
00:09:22,020 --> 00:09:22,432
They

195
00:09:23,980 --> 00:09:26,460
can create harmony and a sense of consistency.

196
00:09:27,040 --> 00:09:27,456
Typically,

197
00:09:29,152 --> 00:09:31,000
in use, one color is dominant,

198
00:09:31,160 --> 00:09:33,020
and the others support that color.

199
00:09:34,140 --> 00:09:36,400
They get along just fine because they're all related.

200
00:09:36,640 --> 00:09:38,420
Or maybe despite being related.

201
00:09:39,120 --> 00:09:39,328
Here,

202
00:09:40,160 --> 00:09:45,260
Mary Cassatt weaves green and a darker blue to the dominant blue color of the chairs.

203
00:09:45,980 --> 00:09:46,240
In

204
00:09:47,760 --> 00:09:53,056
use, an analogous group can help disparate information that might be complex seem cohesive

205
00:09:53,440 --> 00:09:54,860
while creating hierarchy.

206
00:09:55,460 --> 00:09:55,872
To

207
00:09:57,120 --> 00:09:59,720
understand triadic colors, let's look at the color wheel.

208
00:10:00,980 --> 00:10:03,560
These are any three colors evenly spaced apart.

209
00:10:04,140 --> 00:10:04,544
The

210
00:10:05,660 --> 00:10:10,460
resulting palettes can be playful and dynamic rather than calm and conservative.

211
00:10:14,160 --> 00:10:17,720
Monochromatic colors are a group of colors based on one color only.

212
00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:18,656
For example,

213
00:10:19,072 --> 00:10:22,300
several shades of green or a range of blue colors.

214
00:10:22,860 --> 00:10:23,264
While

215
00:10:25,120 --> 00:10:26,800
analogous colors relate but are unique,

216
00:10:27,960 --> 00:10:30,500
monochromatic colors may be tone variations or

217
00:10:30,980 --> 00:10:34,176
values of blue, but are all related to the same blue.

218
00:10:34,660 --> 00:10:35,072
This

219
00:10:36,220 --> 00:10:38,240
works to convey a sense of unity,

220
00:10:38,460 --> 00:10:42,780
as a great option with limited budgets with one or two color printing.

221
00:10:42,960 --> 00:10:47,360
Or a way to make a piece dynamic with the bold use of one color.

222
00:10:47,760 --> 00:10:48,224
Color

223
00:10:49,380 --> 00:10:56,240
theory exists as a guide for color mixing and a way to explain how we see light on the visual spectrum.

224
00:10:56,620 --> 00:10:57,760
It's a great guide,

225
00:10:57,980 --> 00:10:59,936
but think of this as basic math,

226
00:11:00,160 --> 00:11:01,460
not a set of rules.

227
00:11:01,820 --> 00:11:02,496
And

228
00:11:03,760 --> 00:11:09,840
finally, I created a document for your reference that covers the content here on hue, saturation,

229
00:11:10,272 --> 00:11:12,760
value, and warm, cool, and neutral colors.

230
00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:15,640
I've been working with color for a long time,

231
00:11:15,760 --> 00:11:18,680
and even I need some help remembering the differences.

232
00:11:19,060 --> 00:11:21,180
What's value and what's tone?

233
00:11:21,480 --> 00:11:27,600
As I said, knowing the right term and communicating it can prevent many misunderstandings.

234
00:11:27,680 --> 00:11:31,600
And feel free to share this with your clients or people you work with.