Color

Color isn't essential in a design. Black and white can be effective as well, but it is a good element to have to give a certain effect to your piece.

Value: How light or dark a color is.

Use it to increase/decrease contrast, create movement, order, to lead the eye

Has to power the override the effects of value. Will change the focus in a black and white design.

The way we see color is different from how we mix paint. The visible spectrum of light breaks down to RGB. red green blue.

With RGB color, colors are added together on top of black to make various other colors.

Used on Electronics

CMYK color

cyan, magenta, yellow and key (black)

It masks the white. Subtractive because inks subtract brightness from the white

Spot color, Pantone, ect...

Color is Hue

Color added with black or white

Shades/ Tints/ Saturation

Black+Color=Shade

White+Color=Tint

Saturation is the amount of the Hue

Types of Combinations

Analogous, Complementary, Double Complementary, Split-Complementary Triad, Triad, Monochromatic

Monochromatic

Shades and tints of a single hue

Analogous

Two or more adjacent colors

Triad

Three colors