Colour Theory: Basics

Before working on colour palettes for Russi, I thought it was important to take a quick look at basic colour theory. Colour theory is a basis upon which art is created and is very important for marketing a brand. Below is a chart of some basic things I've picked up on colour theory. 

First are the colour types: primary (red, blue, yellow), secondary (green, purple, orange), tertiary (red-orange, orange-yellow, yellow-green, green-blue, blue-purple and purple-red), complimentary colours oppose each other on the colour wheel and analogous colours are a set of 3 or 4 colours that are next to each other on the colour wheel. 

The relationships of colours I looked at were complimentary (opposite), double complimentary (two sets of opposites), split complimentary (instead of picking an opposite, two adjacent colours are chosen), analogous (a few colours next to each other, triad (3 colours in opposition) and monochromatic (shades of the same colour). 

I next looked at colour behaviour: it's a difficult thing to illustrate but the theory is that colours appear different based on other colours that accompany it. For example, reds will look more vibrant when paired with blue or back than they do against an orange. Also, when colours are close to each other on the colour wheel and are placed on top of one another, the human mind can perceive more shades than are actually present. 

Colour temperature splits the colour wheel down the middle: shades of red, orange, yellow and yellow-green are considered 'warm' while shades of green-blue, blue, purple and purple-red are considered 'cool'. 

I also learned a few terms in relation to colour: chroma or saturation refers to the degree of purity in a hue when compared to grey, intensity is the brightness or dullness of a hue, luminescence or value is the amount of light that is reflected by a hue, shade is a hue produced by the addition of black and tint is a hue produced by the addition of white.

Lastly, I had already looked into the psychology of colours and their meanings, but I refreshed my memory on the things that can come to mind by looking at a colour and contextualising its meanings.

From here, I compared the theories I've learned against a few game characters. I discovered that mascot designs tend to utilise one or two theories to make the most of the colour wheel.