To understand the colour schemes, we first need to cover the primary, secondary, and tertiary colours. This is all part of what we call colour theory.
Primary Colours
The primary colours are yellow, red, and blue. These hues can not be attained by mixing other colours. However, they can be used to create secondary and tertiary colours.
Secondary Colours
The secondary colours are colours that are created by mixing two primary colours together. Since there are only three primary colours, there can only be three mixed combinations that create three new colours. These colours are orange (created from mixing red and yellow together), green (created from mixing blue and yellow together), and violet (created from mixing red and blue together).
Tertiary Colours
The tertiary colours are colours that are mixed with one primary colour and one secondary colour. These include yellow-orange, yellow-green, blue-green, blue-violet, red-violet, and red-orange.
Intensity
Intensity, saturation and chroma. These words can be used interchangeably to describe the brightness of a hue. To change the intensity of a colour, you generally mix it with it's complimentary colour. As more and more of the complementary colour is added to the original colour it will become duller and muted. This is where the term earth tones might sound familiar.
Now that we have covered some colour theory, let us get into the colour scheme!
Colour Schemes
Warm & Cool Colour Schemes
Warm and cool colour schemes are often used to convey a feeling or mood. A warm colour scheme is composed of reds, oranges, and yellows. A cool colour scheme is composed of blues, greens, and violet.
A complementary colour scheme is made up of a pair of hues (colours) that are opposite on the colour wheel. Some examples are green and red, yellow and violet, and blue and orange. You see these all around you and you may not realize it! Just think of two big holidays, Christmas and Easter. What colour scheme is mainly associated with each of these holidays? If you answered re and green for Christmas, and yellow and violet for Easter, you are correct!
Split Complementary
A split complementary colour scheme is similar to a complementary colour scheme. The difference is that instead of choosing two colours that are opposites, you choose one colour and the colours on each side of its complementary colour on the colour wheel. Like the example shown, this could be violet with yellow-orange and yellow-green, instead of yellow.
Triadic
Tetradic
Similar to the triadic colour scheme, the tetradic colour scheme uses a shape to determine its palette. In this case, we use a rectangle instead of a triangle. To create this palette, you pick two colours besides one colour. This means that you will either pick two tertiary colours or one primary colour and one secondary colour. To complete the rectangle, you select their opposites on the colour wheel. In the end, you always end up with two sets of complementary colour schemes.
Analogous
An analogous colour scheme is when you use three or more colours that are beside each other on the colour wheel. An example is violet, red-violet, and red. Analogous colour schemes are commonly used and seen in room decorating, websites, and brochures.
Monochromatic & Monochrome
Something to keep in mind is that monochromatic is different from monochrome. Monochrome means having just one colour while a monochromatic colour scheme uses any shade, tint, tone, and intensity of just one colour. This means that there are more hues in a monochromatic colour scheme then there are in a monochrome scheme. Monochromatic colour schemes can create beautiful visuals, especially if you are teaching kids about colour. A monochrome visual may be appropriate when you want kids to colour outlined shapes or images.
Monochromatic colour schemse can create beautiful visuals, especially if you are teaching kids about colour.
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As a word of caution, when teaching kids with disabilities, it is often better to simplify visuals. This means using a monochromatic colour scheme can be confusing to them. Using black and white images especially can hinder their learning.
Take Away
Hopefully, you now have a better understanding of colours and how combining them in different colour schemes could make an impact. No matter the visual, there is always a scheme that will work best!
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Works Cited
Basic Color Theory. (n.d.). Color Matters. Retrieved November 1, 2021, from https://www.colormatters.com/color-and-design/basic-color-theory
Clem, A. (2019, May 8). What is a Color Scheme: Definitions, Types & Examples. The Shutterstock Blog. Retrieved November 1, 2021, from https://www.shutterstock.com/blog/color-scheme-definitions-types-examples
Freeman, C. (2019, December 5). Understanding Color: Intensity. Charlene Collins Freeman Art. Retrieved November 1, 2021, from https://charlenecollinsfreeman.com/blog-montauk/2018/12/12/understanding-color-intensity
Monochromatic vs Monochrome - What’s the difference? (n.d.). WikiDiff. Retrieved November 1, 2021, from https://wikidiff.com/monochromatic/monochrome
All images were created by the writer for this article.
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