OUGD404: Design Principles - Colour Lecture Five

To start the session, we were asked to present our colour experiments in our pairs from last week to our group of eight people.

During these presentation we made notes of any possible questions we had;

Sam & Daisy

• High and Low Contrast Colours
•  Complementary Contrast

Jasper and Leo

• Tone and Saturation
• Contrast of Extension
• Is Contrast of Extention high or low contrast?

Amy & Laura

• Saturation and Tone
• Can complimentary colours ever work together?

Individually, when then decided on 10 key questions we would like to know the answer to: 

1. In contrast of extension, how can you tell if it's high or low contrast?

2. Do the optical shifts in tone apply to every instance of colour theory?

3. How do different tones of one colour affect each other?

4. In printed design, which colours actually complement each other?

5. How do the rules of colour theory apply to black and white?

6. What informs our judgement as a hue as 'warm' or 'cool?'

7. How would simultaneous contrast be used (in a context)?

8. Do Tertiary colours have complementry colours?
9. How does the chromatic value of stock effect colour in print?
10. What informs our associations with colour and certain emotions? 

Common Questions within the group (Between Five and Ten)

1. When Contrast of extension is balanced, is it high or low contrast?

2. Does contrast of extension apply to colours that aren't complementry?

3. Do Tertiary colours have complementry colours?

4. How does artificial / natural light effect the perception of colour?

5. How does the chromatic value of stock effect colour in print?

6. Does tone affect the 'temperature' of a colour?

7. Is it possible for a colour to be 'warm' if it is de-saturated?

8. Can complementry colours be balanced (Contrast of extension)?

9. How would simultaneous contrast be used (in a context)?

10. How do you make gold and silver?

These questions were then handed to another group to answer for next week.

The second part of the session concentrated on the application of colour theory and the principles we had learned in the past four sessions.

We did this by pooling together and categorising the five examples printed design we were asked to bring in. 

The first category we were asked to separate the examples into was the number of inks that had been used within the design:

We were then asked to separate the printed graphics in terms of the type of mixing inks which had been used to print the design. To determine the type of mixing inks used we looked at design through a linen tester.

Optical Mixing - Tiny dots, Two separate colours next to each other and it merges.

Physical Mixing - Completely flat

- Different Printing methods

Pantone Colour Swatches

• Four Colour Process Guide - Based on dots, CMYK
• Formula Guide - Physically mixed inks

We then used the linen tester on the CYMK printing sheets which are used to create a full colour print.

Observations

• Dots get closer together (disappear) on block colour
• On lighter colour the dots spread out
• Tints - Shift in dots become subtle
• Colour theory -Basis of CMYK
• Dot shift - Dot Pitch - Individual plates
• Keeping simple and under control

Task 2: For next week, I must provide an answer for my question; Is colour / less important than typography in Graphic Design?

I began researching into the answer of the question by looking into why - in Graphic Design - colour theory is important.

Notes

• We all have 'expressive' qualities and 'cultural associations' with the colour spectrum.
• Colour touches all of us at a basic, even primal level.
• In nature, we all know that rad is a warning colour - Red berries, red-capped mushrooms (Both poisonous)

Red - Warning that the mushroom is poisonous

Red - Warning drivers to stop

• Yellow in certain situations (particular when used with black) means danger - think wasps, bees and hornets

Yellow - and Black used on a wasp which is dangerous as it can sting you

Yellow- and Black used on these 'hazard' symbols to show the danger of these substances.

• We have all learnt to 'read' the world around us using colour
• Colour affects all of us at a basic level

As well as colour theory, I also researched into the importance of typography in Graphic Design.

Notes

• "Clever Graphic Designers love to use typography to explore the interaction between the look of type and what type actually communicates"
• In communicating a message, a balance has to be achieved between the visual and the verbal aspects of a design.
• Typography plays a major role in making any Graphic Design an instant success. By conveying  your message visually with typography you can save yourself a lot of time keeping in the bounds of creativity.

• Similarly to colour, type can been used to convey emotion e.g. ANGER - The use of capitals and a bold, block font convey the 'anger' emotion.

My Answer:

In Graphic Design, I believe colour is more important than type as a communication tool. We all have 'cultural' associations with different colours such as, red as a warning colour due to Red berries and Red-capped mushrooms being poisonous and Yellow - in certain situations - meaning danger due to wasps, bees and hornets.

Designers can use these colour associations to communicate a specific message - often without the use of type. Although this can apply to typography, for example; a block font to convey anger. Colour can be understood anywhere in the world, typography can not.