Hello,
I’m here today to talk to you about color. I love color and I’m not afraid to use it, mostly because of what I’ve learned in my 20+ years scrapbooking and what I learned in design school. My hope is that after reading this post you will be more inclined to step out of your comfort zone!
Before we dive into the world of color I want to first give you some definitions that often are confusing when we talk about color and can be seen on most color wheels.
Hue – Is pure color, without white, gray, or black added.
Shade – Black is added to the hue.
Tint – White is added to the hue
Tone – Gray is added to the hue.
Using bright colors with neutrals White, gray, and black are the true neutrals as they are achromatic (having no hue) but in the design world brown and are often used as a neutral. A neutral can be used as the background color of your layout. This serves 2 purposes. It gives the eye a place to rest and it provides contrast and visual interest between the bold colors and the background. In this example I used orange as my accent color to mimic the Reese orange in the photo.
Using the Same Value of Color When combining vivid, bold colors for a layout use the same color value ( Hue, shade, tint, tone) across all of the colors. This creates consistency and cohesiveness across the page.
Use Paper Kits or Papers from Same Collection In this layout I used a soft blue with a pop of red to play off the red in my son’s outfit. All the papers used in this layout were also from the same collection which also assures the colors coordinate with one another. The soft blue and cream in the background acts a neutral base which allows the red to pop without looking busy.
Use a Color Wheel or App I first started using a color wheel back in 2010 when I became a certified Scrapbook Instructor through the EK Success SDU program. It’s a simple tool that helps you visually see the relationships between primary, secondary and tertiary colors. As a graphic designer the color wheel has become a staple in creating color schemes for my work and it’s as easy as opening any of the Adobe software such as Illustrator or Photoshop. Adobe has integrated their own color wheel system called Adobe Color. The other reason I like it is because you can create different color schemes for different color modes which is helpful when crossing between digital and print. In scrapbooking I use the Apps mostly for color inspiration and as a guide in building color stories. The colors represented on the screen won’t be a direct match to the paper but it can help me figure out what other colors to use when I feel uninspired or don’t have the color I wanted to use initially.
Also check out Pantone Connect here There’s great inspiration and a wonderful resource for all things color! Pantone Connect is integrated into Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign. There is a free version with limited abilities as well as paid versions. I would only recommend the paid versions if you are in the design fields where Pantone is used as a standard color palette. Check it out for yourself and see if it’s useful and let me know down in the comments!
Thanks for stopping by!