Color Schemes

Color Schemes

Monochromatic color scheme

The monochromatic color scheme uses variations in lightness and saturation of a single color. This scheme looks clean and elegant. Monochromatic colors go well together, producing a soothing effect. The monochromatic scheme is very easy on the eyes, especially with blue or green hues. You can use it to establish an overall mood. The primary color can be integrated with neutral colors such as black, white or gray. However, it can be difficult, when using this scheme, to highlight the most important element. 

Pros: The monochromatic scheme is easy to manage, and always look balance and visually appealing. 

Cons: This scheme lacks color contrast. it is not as vibrant as the complementary scheme. 

Tips: 1. use tint, shades, and tones of the key color to enhance the scheme 

2. Try the analogue scheme; it offers more nuances while retaining the simplicity and elegance of the monochromatic scheme. 

Analogous Color Scheme

The analogous color scheme uses colors that are adjacent to each other on the color wheel. One color is used as dominant color while others are used to enrich the scheme. The analogous scheme is similar to the monochromatic one, but offers more nuances.

Pros: The analogous color scheme is as easy to create as the monochromatic, but looks richer. 

Cons: The analogous color scheme lacks color contrast. It is not as vibrant as the complementary scheme. 

Tips: 1. Avoid using too many hues in the analogous scheme, because this may ruin the harmony. 

2. Avoid combining warm and cool colors in the scheme. 

Complementary Color Scheme

The complementary color scheme is made of two colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel. This scheme looks best when you put a warm color against a cool color, for example, red versus green-blue. The complementary scheme is intrinsically high-contrast.

When using the complementary scheme, it is important to choose a dominant color for the background and its complementary color to highlight important elements, you will get color dominance combined with sharp color contrast. 

Pros: The complementary color scheme offers stronger contrast than any other color scheme, and draws maximum attention. 

Cons: This scheme is harder to balance than monochromatic and analogous schemes, especially when desaturated warm colors are used. 

Tips: 1. For best results, place cool colors against warm ones, for example, blue versus orange.

2. If you use a warm color (red or yellow) as an accent, you can desaturate the opposite cool colors to put more emphasis on the warm colors.

3. Avoid using desaturated warm colors (e.g. browns or dell yellows.) 

4 Try the split complementary scheme; it is similar to the complementary scheme but offers more variety.

Split Complementary Color Scheme 

The Split complementary scheme is a variation of the standard complementary scheme. It uses a color and the two colors adjacent to its complementary. This provides high contrast without the strong tension of the complementary scheme. 

Pros: The split complementary scheme offers more nuances that the complementary scheme while retaining strong visual contrast.

Cons: The split complementary scheme is harder to balance than monochromatic and analogous color schemes. 

Tips: 1. Use a single warm color against a range of cool colors to put an emphasis on the warm color (red versus blues and blue-green, or orange versus blues and blue -violets). 

2. Avoid using desaturated warm colors (e.g. browns or dull yellow), because this may ruin the scheme. 

Triadic Color Scheme

The tetradic (double complementary) scheme is the richest of all the schemes because it uses four colors arranged into two complementary color pairs. This scheme is hard to harmonize; if all four colors are used in equal amounts, the scheme may look unbalanced, so should choose a color to be dominant or subdue the colors.

Pros: The tetradic scheme offers more color variety than any other scheme. 

Cons: This scheme is the hardest scheme to balance.

Tips: 1. If the scheme looks unbalanced, try to subdue one or more colors.

2. Avoid using pure colors in equal amounts.

Types of Graphics

Introduction to Computer Graphics

CG (computer graphics) is a term which brings multiple applications together, for designing and exporting an image, audio & video production and presentation for Televisions, Web & Print media.

Types of CG:

We can categorize computer graphics into two parts.

1: Raster or bitmap graphics.

2: Vector graphics

Images can be taken from cameras, scanners or other sources like websites etc.

Digital images include both vector images and raster images, but raster images are more commonly used.

Raster Graphics

A picture is good example of raster graphics. There are small color dots which compiled together to form an image. These tiny color dots are called “Color Pixels”. When you are going to work on raster graphics its means you are going to edit an image. Raster graphics can be edited by erasing or changing the color of individual pixels using program software.

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Resolution of Image

Resolution depends on measuring size and quantity of color pixels in an image. Total number of pixels present in 1 square inch is called Resolution of an image. Some other measuring units are also available in designing applications like, picas, points, millimeters, etc. you can change these measuring units according to your need.

Resolution of image depends that what you are going to design for, for example if you are editing or designing an image for web its resolution could be like 100 pixel per square inch, and if you are producing an image for printing it’s resolution could be up to 300 Pixels per inch for sharp and better result. Low resolution could distort the color information of image causing dull and blur print in the end.

Big resolution will require more offline storage space. Its means that with increasing the resolution it will also increase file size. So be careful when you are going to export an image from any designing application, that its resolution and size should be perfect according to your need.

We can edit photographs and add various effects, themes and text with the help of tools in software programs.

*Adobe Photoshop, Corel photo paint & U Lead photo impact are well known professional software based on raster graphics by default and RGB color system. But we can also work on vector and CMYK color system.

Vector Graphics

Vector graphics depends on dimensions. Vector graphics are comprised of paths. A path can be a line, a triangle, or any kind of shape. These paths can be used to create simple drawings or complex diagrams.

Draw a horizontal line and represent it with “X”, again draw a vertical line represent with “Y” on a graph chart. It shows 2 dimensions or coordinates of vector graphics. A rectangle has two “x” & two “y” coordinates. Or we can say that by joining 2 ‘x’ and 2 ‘y’ coordinates together, we can draw a rectangle.

In 3D “Z” coordinate represents third dimension. 

 Because vector-based images are not made up of a specific number of color dots (pixels), they can be scaled to a larger size and by doing this they do not lose any image quality. This makes vector graphics ideal for logos, which can be small enough to appear on a business card, but can also be scaled to fill a billboard.

We can fill vector shapes with multi colors, patterns & textures. Examples of drawing or creating brochures, visiting cards, designs for billboards, office stationary and other printing art works are common examples of vector based designing.

*Adobe illustrator, Corel Draw & Macromedia freehand is well known professional software based on vector graphics by default and CMYK color system. But we can also work on raster and RGB color system.

Saving projects in different software program will save this file in relevant software’s extension, for example, when we save an adobe Photoshop’s file naming “my pic”. The file would be saving with the software extension “.psd”. (my pic.psd).Every software has its own extension like Corel Draw’s file extension is “.cdr”.

Uncompressed and compressed file

When you are working in software program, in fact you are working with uncompressed file format. After completion of art work it will be export in a form of compress file format. Well known image compressors are, JPEG (joint picture expert group), PNG (portable net graphics), BMP (bitmap) and Gif. These compressors have color information of 24bit (8 bit color information for each one among three main colors). Uncompressed image formats are also used for storing transparency in an image. Some of the examples are “TGA (targa)”, “TIF (true image font)”, and EPS (encapsulated postscript file).

Colors in Graphics

Understanding Colors

There are two basic types of color system.
1: RGB colors (Red, Green, Blue)
RGB colors are also know as "Additive colors" & "Primary colors"

2: CMYK colors (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black)
CMYK colors are also known as "Subtractive Colors" & "Secondary colors"

If we are going to design for TV or Web we'll use "RGB" color system.
and if we are going to design for Print media then use "CMYK" color system.

Light:
In order to understand color we need a brief overview of light. Without light , there would b no color, and hence no RGB world.

Primary colors can be arrange in circle, commonly referred to as a "Color Wheel". Red, Green, Blue (RGB)  from a triangle on the color wheel. In between the primary colors are the secondary colors, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black (CMYK), which form another triangle.

Visible Light

The wavelengths our eye can detect is only a small portion of the electromagnetic energy spectrum. We called this, "The visible light spectrum". At one end of the visible spectrum are the short wave lengths of light we perceive as blue. At the other end of the visible spectrum are the longer wave lengths of light we perceive as red. All the other colors we can see in nature are found somewhere along the spectrum between blue and red.

Non - Visible Light

Beyond the limits at each end of the visible spectrum are the short wave lengths of the ultraviolet light and X-rays and the long wave lengths of infrared radiation and radio waves, which are non visible to human eye.

Primary Colors

If the visible portion of the light spectrum is divided into thirds, the predominant colors are red, green and blue. These three colors are considered as "Primary colors" of the visible light spectrum.

Additive Color System (RGB)

The additive color system involves light emitted directly from a source, before an object reflects the light. The additive reproduction process mixes various amounts of red, green and blue light to produce other colors. Combining one of these additive primary colors with another produces the additive secondary colors cyan, magenta, yellow. Combining all three primary colors produces white.

Uses of Additive color system
Televisions and computer monitors create color using the primary colors of the light. Each pixel on a monitor screen starts out as black. when the red, green and blue phosphors of a pixel are illuminated simultaneously, that pixel become white.

Subtractive Color System (CMYK)
Photographs, magazines, and other object of nature such as an apple, create color subtracting or absorbing certain wavelengths of color while reflecting other wavelengths back to the viewer. This phenomenon is called subtractive color.
                                    A red apple is a good example of subtractive color, the apple really has no color, it has no light energy of its own. It merely reflects the wavelengths of white light that cause us to see red and absorbs most of the other wavelengths which evokes the sensation of red. The viewer (or detector) can be the human eye, film in a camera or a light sensing instrument.

Printing Process

Color paintings, color photography, and all color printing processes use the subtractive process to reproduce color. In these cases, the reflective subtract is canvas (paintings) or paper (photographs, prints) which is usually white.

The Purpose of "K" in in CMYK
Printing presses use use color inks that act as filter and subtract portions of the white light striking the image on paper to produce other colors. Printing inks are transparent, which allows light to pass through to and reflect of the paper base. It is the paper that reflects any unabsorbed light back to the viewer. The offset printing process use cyan, magenta and yellow (CMY) process color inks and a fourth ink, black. The black printing ink is designed "K" to avoid confusion with "B" for blue.
Over printing one transparent printing ink with another produces the subtractive secondary colors, red, green, blue.

Learn Graphics Designing

Hello.

My name is Shoaib Iqbal. I am professional graphics designer, I have been working in Design industry since last 13 years.
I've worked for various design industries.

I'll teach you computer graphics and designing. I've design this session into three modules.
1: Print media graphics
2: 3 D graphics / 2D & 3D animations
3: NLE (non linear editing)

Print Media Graphics

Drawing & Illustrations, Advance digital image processing, Visualization, Design concepts, Desktop publishing, Titling, Keyboards techniques & operations, Presenting designing concepts and Vector and Bitmap image creation, Vector & Bitmap Properties.

My recommended applications for print media graphics are: 

Inpage, Corel Draw, Adobe Photoshop,  Free hand, and Adobe Illustrator 

2D & 3D ANIMATIONS

Production of 2D & 3D animations, Advance 3D Modeling & Animation, Morphing Warping, Lightning & Shading for 3D Environments, 3D Character Animations, Camera Techniques, working with Cad files in 3D, Keyboard Shortcuts, Troubleshooting and installation of software, Rendering Techniques. 

My recommended applications for module 2 graphics are: 
3D STUDIO MAX, 3D POSER, 3D CARRARA, 3D DAZE STUDIO, 3D MAYA and REALLUSION I CLONE.

DIGITAL AUDIO & VIDEO EDITING

Sound and video integration, Interactive video techniques, Concepts of motion picture and motion capture, Virtual reality, Screen design, Show reel creation, Production of complete Audio and Video.

My recommended applications for module 2 graphics are: 

ADOBE PREMIERE PRO, ADOBE AFTER EFFECTS, ADOBE AUDITION, ADOBE ENCORE, ADOBE MEDIA ENCODER, ADOBE SOUND BOOTH,  ULEAD AUDIO & VIDEO EDITING SUIT. 

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So this is a small introduction for the course module I m going to teach. soon you'll find the lectures with video tutorials.

I'll try to make it so much easier so that you can understand it easily.

Your suggestions and queries'll be welcome and appreciated.

There are various job opportunities in graphics and designing sector all over the world.

you can work for 

Radio, TV, Web, Software companies, Production houses, Interior & Exterior design companies, advertising companies, digital and manual printing setups.

Now a days Designing & advertising concepts become a great challenge for professional designers. you can also work on these concepts after completion of course. some examples could be:

Creations for Point of Purchase Designs, Festivities Designs, Designs for Billboards, Counter Racks, Floor Racks, Wall mounted Racks, Gondolas, Designs for Vehicle Floats, Designs of Standee Totems, Led animated Design Concepts and Visualizations, Designs of 3D stickers, Interior Designs for Franchises, Designs of Buntings, and all Promotional Designs in various Categories.

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I can also teach you online.

availability request on demand will be charge in the sum of amount.

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Thanks.

Stay blessed.