Colour Wheel & Harmonies.

Creating A Colour Wheel.

In today's lesson we were sent out to take pictures of anything we could find in which included colours of the colour wheel, later to construct our own wheel consisting of these colours and photos.

 I got this image from google and this is what I based my images off, trying to find objects, signs and products in which where these individual colours, later intending to merge them together to create my own colour wheel. From doing this exercise I realised how often the colours blue and red / pink where used in signs for shops, patterns etc. This was the main colour we came across, and I wanted to get a variety of images for my colour wheel as opposed as going into a supermarket and taking images of different products that had all the colours on. I wanted to do this as it gave me an idea of what kind of colours are popular for certain areas and businesses, which ones are popular and favoured. 

    With this information gathered we continued to search for more green colours and deep purples, however we found this difficult. Here is my own colour wheel that I constructed in today's lesson with the images I had taken.   

Cultural Colour

In the world today there are multiple different cultures and each of these cultures have a different response to colour which is important for any business with other countries or other societies. A few examples of colours and cultures are the colour red can often mean multiple different things, for example danger , love, passion , luck, mourning , sin. All of these emotions differ from culture to culture which is why research for colours and which colours to use is vital as you want to convey specific emotions in work.
 In response to cultural colour there is also universal colours and personal colours. All colours will have a different meaning to different countries and people depending on personal experience or memories with certain colours.

Colour Harmonies 

There are many colours that blend well with each other, the theories behind these colours working together are split into different categories, for example Primary Colours and Secondary Colours. 

Here is my example of a Primary colour wheel using my images from a previous lesson, Red, Blue and Yellow are all the basic colours that are found on screen devices.

These are examples of Secondary colours. If you evenly mix the initial primary colours together (yellow and blue... blue and red etc) you achieve purple, green and orange. Combining these colours for projects can make a lot of contrast.

Tertiary colours are shown in my example to the right, these colours are made when primary colours and mixed with secondary

Complimentary
Colour Wheel

Along with these examples there are also complimentary colours on the colour wheel ( those that are opposite on the wheel)/ Complimentary colour schemes create a high level of contrast, but can create a lot of visible vibration when they are used on full saturation.

Analogous
Colour Wheel

Here is an example of an Analogous colour wheel, these colours are directly next to each other on the wheel, these create sense of variety.

Pures, Tints , Shades & Tones

Pure Colour: Pure colours are colours that are not mixed with any other hues. These are usually mixed into bright designs, typically things intended to be viewed as youthful or summery can benefit from using pure colours.

Tints: These are colours that are mixed with white, they typically convey lighter and more peaceful images, they are also considered to be more feminine compared to pure colours. Companies that want to convey peace (such a spas) would benefit from using these types of colours.

Shades: These are colours that are mixed with black, these are effective at conveying the feeling of mystery, evil. Shades can work well with gradients when mixed with a pure colour or lighter shade.

White Balance

White balance when filming basically means colour balance. It will tell the camera what the colour is and film it correctly, this is important when filming because it allows you to remove any unrealistic colour tones. White balance can be done automatically or manually, most of the time it is best to do is manually to get your desired effect.
    Before adjusting the white balance of your camera you need to firstly set up your lighting for your desired colour temperature (this can vary if you are outside in the sun to inside for example). Secondly you can set your white balance, and according to this alter your lights to be above or below the temperature to add highlights.

Adobe Kuler

Adobe kuler is a piece of software that enables you to find colour combinations in various ways, much like the harmonies explained above ( monochromatic, complementary etc)

Here is an example of using Adobe Kuler for Shades. You can alter the colour using the pointer, therefore getting different shades of what ever colour you want.

Here is an example of complimentary colours in Adobe Kuler, you can alter the wheel to find the colours you desire.