How do I choose the right colors? I am a firm believer that there are no such things as right colors. There is always more than one way to apply color successfully. But I do believe in asking a series of questions before choosing a palette. Number one. Most importantly, do you need to incorporate existing colors or are you starting from scratch?
Look at what's already there. Are you working with a company company that already has a turquoise logo like Waze, for example? That doesn't mean that a brochure you design has to match the turquoise, but it helps if your palette relates to the logo. If they're going to sit on the same page, you also should consider the context of the overall style of what's already in place.
Is the emphasis, for example, on darker, more conservative colors or bright and festive ones? Number two, what colors does your client love? What colors do you or the person or the company you're working with gravitate to? Does your client at fresh direct love the color green, but you're presenting them with oranges and reds. You're going to get a happier client, personally, if they like the colors.
If they personally, personally, like them. If not, it might not be so good. Getting a feel for their personal palette can be the key to success, and it can be as easy as putting a paint deck in front of someone and asking them to point to colors that they find appealing. Number three, what is the overall effect you're trying to create? Do you want a color scheme that shouts, “Here I am”?
or do you want something that whispers softly? It's not just the hue that you choose that evokes a particular feeling, but it's the chroma, meaning the intensity and the value how light or dark a color is as well. Intense colors emphasize objects that they cover and their flashy, dark, warm colors have a way of drawing things together and are intimate. Light cool colors have a way of opening things up
and making them more expansive, especially if they're in a similar hue and value. In the case of the Washington Post app, the deep blue connotes a seriousness and authority that matches with their mission. Number four, the effect of color on scale. Are you trying to make a room look smaller, bigger, taller or shorter? I use color to adjust any deficiencies
in the scale of a particular space. If I'm painting a room with an uncomfortably low ceiling, a lighter color on the ceiling than on the walls will make the room appear taller. As you can see on the slide on the left, if I'm painting a room with uncomfortably high ceilings, a darker color on the ceiling than on the walls will make that room appear lower. As you can see in the slide on the in the middle,
if you want to make a room feel less long and narrow. I would put an accent color on the end wall as in the slide on the right. The following slides illustrate how changing the paint colors can drastically change the scale and the feeling of a room. We are flipping through these now, just so you can get a quick sense of how this works and last on exterior facades. You can also see how color is used to emphasize either architectural details
like windows and trim or on the building form itself. In the left slide. The first and second houses are done in varying forms of a monochromatic scheme that is sort of maroon and dark blue, whereas the houses further down with the green and tan and the red and tan emphasize architectural details. In the slide on the right, the details like window
trim and doors are emphasized in the gray and yellow houses, while the architectural form of the building is emphasized in the charcoal gray house further down to the right. Number five. Are you looking for colors that are contrasting or harmonious? Once you have chosen your dominant hue, then you need to decide which color scheme you prefer.
Monochromatic schemes where you're using shades of the same color to give the greatest sense of harmony. Complimentary schemes that use highly contro casting colors that hit opposite each other on the color wheel can be anywhere from exciting to jarring. And then there's everything in between the two ends of the bell curve. In this last slide, there is what it's called an analogous color scheme where you can see the similar greens and in the green on the left it's
used with a color yellow, which is next to green on one side of the color wheel. And in the right side it's green with a blue, which is next to it, on the other side in the color wheel. Number six why a neutral in every palette. First, let me give you a definition of neutrals. Neutrals are created by mixing a hue and its complement together in varying proportions.
This muddies or grays down the original hue, neutrals help to bring other color choices together by creating a place for the eye to rest. And they work as excellent backgrounds for more intense accents. In this slide on the left, you can see that the neutral is used as the background color, and on the right, the neutral is used as an accent in the next slide.
You can see how the pale, gray, neutral acts as a background for intense accents.