Every business knows that design is an integral part of building a brand. But how do we get to the final product that we see? It starts with the basic elements of design including line, shape, form, value, space, texture, and color. While each is important, color has an added value as it evokes a mental and emotional response.
Color breaks down into three sections including primary, secondary, and tertiary. Primary colors are cyan, magenta, and yellow, and these can be combined to make the three secondary colors of orange, green, and violet. Both primary and secondary colors are mixed to create the six tertiary colors. You may be familiar with red, blue, and yellow being the primary colors, and although this is true, when it comes to pigments for design, cyan, magenta, and yellow are the standard to create colors for inks, paints, and other forms of media.
Colors can then be broken down into what they are associated with: emotion, season, temperature, etc. Warm colors are generally in the red, orange, and yellow families. They often make people think of warm things such as sunlight and heat, allowing them to feel emotions like passion, excitement, or joy. Cool colors are generally in the blue, green, and purple families. They make people think of water, snow, and ice and can make them feel calm and relaxed.
Designers can use these colors to create color schemes with complementary, analogous, and triadic colors. Complementary colors are those opposite of each other on the color wheel, such as yellow and purple, green and red, or blue and orange, which can make imagery pop.
Analogous colors are those that sit next to each other on the color wheel, such as red, orange, and yellow, where each color is used as either a dominant, accent, or support color to create designs that are pleasing to look at.
Triadic colors are three colors equally spaced from each other on the color wheel, such as red, orange, and blue. This creates both contrast and harmony to an image, making each component stand out to allow the complete image to pop.
To help designers, Pantone Color Institute predicts color trends each year by using fashion, marketing, and social media where it announces its color of the year. Pantone also creates color palette trends for each season that highlight the different colors that fit into each season.
The color of the year is extremely influential when it comes to design and marketing. Many brands choose to incorporate these colors into their marketing each year. This year's colors are Ultimate Gray and Illuminating. Brands like Lokai, a New York-based jewelry brand, have even created products with these exact colors. Adobe has curated a selection of photos, illustrations, and templates featuring these two colors for everyone to use.
If you need help creating your brand for your business, the designers at AMA Design & Print are here to help. Visit them at their website, printama.com.
