Understanding colorUnderstanding colorChapter 8: Color Harmony

Beauty is the quality of an object or experience that gives pleasure

to one or more of the senses.

A color can be beautiful...

or a sound...

...or a scent.

Delight in the presence of beauty is as natural to the human condition

as breathing.

Harmony is the happy condition that follows when two or more different things are sensed together as a single, pleasing

experience.

Harmony is perceived as:

complete

continuous

natural

Harmony is intuitive; a feeling that things are just as they should be.

In a harmonious situation everything is in balance; everything belongs.

Happy families live in harmony.

Barbershop quartets sing in harmony.

A hermit lives in

harmony with nature.

Harmonious experiences are without gaps or surprises.

Color harmony occurs when two or more colors are sensed together as a single, pleasing, collective

impression.

A single color can be beautiful,but it cannot be harmonious.

Harmony requires a grouping of elements.

A key characteristic of harmonious colorings is that they seem effortless and uncontrived.

Not every color in a harmonious relationship has to be a “pleasing” color.

These are not particularly “beautiful” colors...

But your eye needs them to bring harmony to all the competing colors in this art quilt.

In some cases, harmony may not be the goal of your color problem.

In this painting by Ludwig Kirchner, the idea was to present a scene that seemed a little unsettling.

The colors help do that.

Kirchner and Edvard Munch were both part

of a group of painters from

the early 20th century called

Expressionists that used color

to heighten emotional

tension.

Color can be used in all kinds

of ways to create various effects called

color effects.

color harmony

visual impact

Color effects fall into two broad categories:

They are really two polar ends to a continuum with many variations in between.

The important thing is to know what your goal is and to use your knowledge about colors to

achieve that goal.

Intervals Intervals

and Harmony

Because of the human need for logic, even intervals are the most pleasing and harmonious type of color intervals to use.

You can force colors that seem incompatible to achieve a sort of harmony by creating intervals between them.

In this case, intervals were established not just between the two colors but also beyond

them.

In this case, intervals were established not just between the two colors but also beyond

them.

Creating a series of intervals between unrelated colors is a principal way in which they can be transformed into a harmonious

group.

Another way to use intervals is to enrich a sparse color palette by adding intervals.

If colors are similar in value and an overall effect seems flat, adding steps of value (without

changing hues) accomplishes this also.

If colors are similar in value and an overall effect seems flat, adding steps of value (without

changing hues) accomplishes this also.

The arrangement of intervals is not necessarily important.

The progressive intervals are inherently harmonious no matter how the appear in the composition.

Just remember that even intervals of any color quality (hue, value, saturation, or any mixture of these) within the same composition tend to be more pleasing than random intervals no matter

how they are arranged.

HueHue

and Harmony

Historically, the search for color harmony has focused on the relationship between hues, and more specifically, on the link between harmony

and complementary colors.

As Goethe first said, the eyes find equilibrium in the presence of all three primaries.

But not every pleasing palette is made up of complements.

When a single hue is used in a variety of values or saturations, it is called monochromatic and is very

harmonious.

Analogous colors (colors next to each other on the color wheel) also create a

very harmonious color scheme.

In fact, any hues used together can be harmonious if used correctly.

Learning how to achieve this is what this class is all about!

Value Value

and Harmony

Although the principal function of value is as contrast that creates separation between figure and ground, traditional color theory offers three ideas about value and harmony:

Even intervals of value are harmonious

Middle values are harmonious

Equal values in different hues are harmonious

A range of values does not have to extend

from the extremes of

light to dark to be pleasing,

nor does it have to be

arranged in a linear

progression.

(...although Professor Haas might give the painting on the left an A+ and the one on the

right an A.)

Intervals of value will be seen as harmonious as long as steps are equidistantly spaced.

Only the oak leaf changes value intervals.All other leaves are identical on both

compositions.

When the same image is illustrated using well-spaced steps of value and again with irregular steps, the even-interval version will almost invariably be chosen as preferable.

This is just another example of how EVEN intervals are always going to be more harmonious than uneven ones.

All four of these compositions use even intervals of value. All create a certain sense of harmony no matter how they are arranged in the composition.

The second premise, that “middle values are harmonious,” implies that hues at the

extremes of light or dark are unpleasing.

But remember that middle values include everything but the very ends of the value

spectrum.

There is plenty of light and dark variation in the middle value range.

In addition to the actual value range of “middle” values, there are inherent differences in value between the different hues (like violet/dark and yellow/light).

It is true that middle values are often selected as preferable over their much

darker or lighter variations.

Middle values are easy to see and easy to identify. Viewers will always select first those colors that can be discriminated from others with a minimum of effort.

It is more correct to say that middle values are preferred.

All values, including extreme darks and lights, are equal in their potential to create

harmonious palettes.

The final premise, that “equal values are harmonious,” has two distinctly different aspects:

First, hues of close or equal value can be

pleasing when they are used

as carried colors against a contrasting

darker or lighter ground.

You lose the forward and

back impression

that is associated

with the contrast of

dark and light,but the

presence of many colors

offers a different kind

of interest and liveliness.

Hues of close or

equal value also create

elegant harmonies without a

contrasting ground

when no image is

intended.

If your intention is to create a pleasing background, you can’t do better than

different hues of similar value.

saturationsaturation

and Harmony

Color compositions tend to be most successful when the overall level of

saturation is relatively constant.

This doesn’t mean that every color has the same saturation, but that the different saturations are balanced to produce an overall effect.

When a single saturation is different and isolated, it tends to become the focal point.

Complex compositions that include different levels of saturation call for a studied balance

between vivid and muted elements.

Bright and dull elements

are composed together to

create a single,

cumulative effect that is

brighter or more muted.

When a single pure color is inserted into

a muted palette, it will pop forward.

As in all instances of the use of color, it is important to remember your goal.

Remember that more saturated colors spring forward and make less saturated

colors appear duller by comparison.

Use saturation to draw attention to your main subject.

Use saturation wisely!

It has been argued that muted colors are naturally more harmonious than saturated colors because the eye is at rest in the presence of muted color.

Brilliant colors are exciting and muted ones are calming, but neither is inherently more harmonious

than the other.

Only the relationship between colors creates color harmony, not the colors themselves.

Harmonious compositions are possible with colors at any level of saturation.

Professor Haas contends that muted colors are more often seen in nature and are therefore more

calming to us.

major and minor major and minor themesthemes

Many complex colorings have an additional characteristic:

a dominant hue family enlivened by smaller areas of the complement.

Color compositions in which two or more hue families compete for equal

attention are often less successful than those with major-minor hue

relationships.

Some harmoniousSome harmoniousconclusionsconclusions

A central feature of successful harmonies iscompleteness.

The ground is often the largest single area in a composition, and that idea of completeness

includes consideration of the color of the ground, even when it is simply white.

Remember that even white is not absolute; all whites have undertones of some other hue in

them.

Blacks and grays, too, carry undertones. There are green-blacks, blue-blacks, violet-blacks, and

brown-blacks.

A well-chosen ground means the difference between a fully realized color harmony and a less

satisfying one.

Following the guidelines for color harmony does not

guarantee that a particular colorway will have universal

appeal because there is always an

element of personal bias in color preference.

However, it is true that a great deal of what we find harmonious originates as involuntary

responses of the eyes and mind. The brain has a built-in bias for certain kinds of combinations.

A person’s perception of harmony is influenced by the eye’s need for equilibrium...

...the comfort level of vision,

...the human need for logic in perception,

...and each individual’s emotional response.

An instinct for what is harmonious can be trusted because the eyes dictate

boundaries of comfort.

We enjoy the accidental beauties of nature, but in design, harmony is not accidental; it

is deliberate.

The designer creates each new

palette, and the designer’s intent

determines whether that palette is harmonious or

otherwise.

Hopefully, all these

“guidelines” for creating

harmony won’t stifle your own creative spirit.

No new idea ever grew from sticking to the

rules.

What does make sense is to consider some observations

about color harmony:

1. No single factor determines color harmony.

2. The complementary relationship between hues is a strong basis for harmony, but it is

not the only basis. Any hues used together can be harmonious.

3. Even intervals between colors contribute to harmony. Even intervals are pleasing whether they exist between hue, value, saturation, or any

combination of these.

4. Color compositions tend to be harmonious when the level of saturation is relatively

constant.

5. Compositions of many colors tend to be most successful when a dominant family of

analogous hues is supported by smaller areas of their complements.

beyond harmony:beyond harmony:dissonant colorsdissonant colors

If color harmony is the “good child” of design,its polar opposite is disharmony, or dissonance.

Dissonant colorways are disturbing. Colors do not seem to belong with each

other.

Disharmony communicates imbalance, unease, edginess, chaos; a sense that something is missing or is off-kilter.

Dissonant colorings can be dynamic and exciting–not pleasing perhaps, but certainly a way to draw attention.

When the guidelines of color harmony are deliberately ignored, the result may

startle or repel, but it may also be memorable.

Unpleasing colorways have

their own stengths.

high-impact colorhigh-impact color

Some design problems call

for colors or combinations that will draw

instant attention.

The strongest images are

created by high value contrast

alone, a graphic power that requires no

hue.

The addition (not the

substitution) of brilliant color to

an already powerful image

does not change the

strength of the image. It only

affects how long it takes to

capture the viewer’s

attention.

Colors that are both hue-intensive and light-reflecting, like a strong tint of red-violet, or a saturated yellow-green, have an eye-catching

immediacy.

Only a few saturated hues are truly high-impact.

The range of violets, for

example, is not light-reflecting

enough to draw immediate attention.

For instance, when a highly visible

violet is called for, a strong tint is

used.

Working with high-impact colors is

not necessarily an alternative to

color harmony. Colorings can be both brilliant and

harmonious.

Brilliant colors used together without some intervening value contrast are likely to vibrate, so although they draw immediate attention, they are

poor candidates for good readability.

However, when these colors contrast sharply with their surroundings, they are useful in communicating nonverbal warnings.

The Occupational Safety and Health

Administration (OSHA) uses high-impact colors symbolically to alert for specific dangers–a tint of violet for radiation,

vivid orange for hazardous situations.

Fluorescent colors, sometimes called neon or “DayGlo” colors, are an extreme of high-

impact color.

They include a colorant that absorbs wavelengths of light from the UV range (non-visible light) of the spectrum and re-emits it as visible light.

High-impact color can also be used to direct attention. An area of brilliant color set into a

more muted palette injects an element of surprise into a composition.

It draws attention to

itself and away from

the composition as a whole.

Surface Surface and Harmony

In the natural world, brilliant and subtly muted colors coexist. The colors of nature are also

fragmented and could be better described as optical mixes than as flat color.

Broken color, suggesting texture, invites a tactile response as well as a visual one.

Fragmented color responds to the human need for connection to the natural world.

Flat color has its own purpose and place in design. Where broken color suggest nature, hard-edged,

flat colors are dramatic and compelling.

Flat color has a discipline that responds to an entirely different human need: the need

to control.

The designer of a new electronic device is unlikely to specify coloring that suggests

the texture of autumn leaves.

A surface that is flat, sleek, and flawless offers an impression of precision.

The decision to use flat or broken color is a small but meaningful side trip on the road to successful

color choices.