Colour theory covers various design applications, concepts and definitions. If all the information is combined, it would fill up a lot of encyclopaedias. For the introduction of colour theory, the basic concepts are discussed below.

The Colour Wheel

A circle of colour which is traditional in the art field is based on blue, yellow and red. In 1666, Sir Isaac Newton created the first ever circular colour diagram. Since then, artists and scientists have designed and studied a number of variations based on this concept. Debate is still continuously provoked regarding opinion differences regarding the validity of a certain format over the other. But in reality, any colour wheel or colour circle which demonstrates colour combination sequence of pure hues which are logically arranged has merit.

Primary Colours

Blue, yellow and red: These 3 basic colours cannot be formed or mixed by any other colour combination based on the theory of traditional colours. All colours available are created from these three basic hues.

Secondary Colour

Purple, orange and green: By mixing primary colours, these colours are formed.

Tertiary Colours

Red orange, yellow-green, blue-green, red-purple, blue-purple, and yellow-orange: These colours are the outcome if a secondary colour is mixed with primary colour. This is also the reason why two-word names are given to the hues, like yellow-orange, red-violet, and blue-green.

Colour Harmony

The pleasant arrangement of parts is one of the definitions of harmony, whether it’s colour, poetry or music.

With regards to visual experiences, harmony is defined as something which appears pleasing to the human eye, something which interests the viewer. Anything which isn’t harmonious is either chaotic or boring. Visual tasks require us to present a structure which is logical. Thus, colour harmony should be able to deliver a sense of order and visual interest.

To summarize everything, under-stimulation is the effect of extreme unity; over-stimulation is the result of extreme complexity. The dynamic equilibrium of everything is harmony.

A Few Colour Harmony Formulas

Harmony has a few theories. Here are a few descriptions for some basic formula.

A colour scheme based on analogous colours
Analogous colours are defined as any 3 colours on a 12-part colour wheel which can be found side by side, like yellow-orange, yellow and yellow-green. A single colour usually pre-dominates the three colours.

Scheme based on complementary colours
Any 2 colours directly found opposite each other are known as complementary colours (yellow-green, red-purple, green and red). These opposing colours make maximum stability and maximum contrast.

Colour scheme inspired from nature
Nature serves as a perfect inspiration when it comes to colour harmony and colour selection. Green, yellow and red creates quite a harmonious design heedless of whether the combination meets the colour harmony’s technical formula.

Colour Context

How a certain colour acts in relation to certain shapes or colour is quite a complex colour theory area. The starting point to understanding colour relativity is to observe the effects that colour towards each other. The relationship of coolness or warmth, saturation and values of various hues can have quite a noticeable difference in a person’s colour perception.