What Is Color Theory & How To Use It in Graphic Design?

Color theory is one of the pillars of effective graphic design. Let’s dive into the details to explain what is color theory and how it affects graphic design.

What is color theory?

Let’s start with a basic color theory definition. 

Color theory is the study of colors: how colors are created and combined. 

The foundation of color theory is the color wheel, invented by Sir Isaac Newton in 1666. Newton split white light into a spectrum by means of a prism and then wrapped the resulting spectrum around on itself to create the color wheel.

Categories of colors

The color wheel helps us categorize colors into three categories according to how colors are created. 

1. Primary colors (red, yellow, blue)
2. Secondary colors (mixes of primary colors, such as green, purple, and orange)
3. Tertiary colors (mixes of primary and secondary colors, such as brown, magenta, or teal)

Hue, tint, tone and shade

Before we get into the different color combinations, it’s important to understand a few other terms related to the color spectrum.  

A basic color is called a hue.

Tint is a color with white added into it. This way you’d get pastel colors that have been very popular in social media design in recent years. 

Tone is a color with grey added into it. This is a way to created the so-called muted colors. These colors are very popular with product packaging design, as they often resemble colors found in nature.

Shade is a color with black added into it. These colors are often used in digital painting to give more depth, or in printed materials, as darker colors are easier to get right in print.

Understanding these variations on a color can help you make versatile designs, without worrying that they will look busy or that the colors won’t work together.

Color combinations

Besides different types of colors, the color wheel also categorizes color pairings, according to where the colors are based on the wheel.

1. Monochromatic colors: a combination of one color with different shades and tints of the same color
2. Complementary colors: also known as contrasting colors, means two colors located on the opposite sides of the color wheel (e.g. red and green)
3. Analogous colors: three colors located beside one another on the color wheel  (e.g. red-violet, red, and red-orange)
4. Triadic colors: three colors, located an equal distance from one other on the color wheel (e.g. yellow, red, and blue)
5. Tetradic colors: four colors that are two sets of complementary pairs (e.g., orange/yellow/blue/violet)
6. Split-complementary: a color and the color and the color adjacent to its complementary color (e.g. green and orange)
7. Square: found color evenly spaced on the color wheel (e.g. blue, yellow, orange, and purple)
8. Warm and cool colors: primary, secondary and tertiary colors in one half of the color wheel

Why is color theory important?

Understanding the basics of color theory is fairly simple. But why is it important? 

Here are a few main reasons how an understanding of color theory can improve graphic design. 

Emotional impact

Color theory is closely related to color psychology. This still emerging field studies how colors impact human emotions and perception. For example, findings point that red usually conveys passion or urgency, while blue often signifies trust and calmness.

Understanding how colors are mixed and created will help you make more informed decisions in creating designs. For example, if you choose red as your primary color to evoke trust, you’ll know to use a complementary color scheme (yellow) to give your designs (e.g. ads, social media posts) more visibility.

Brand building

A color palette is arguably the important aspect of your visual identity. Just imagine the Coca-Cola logo in blue. It’s safe to assume they would give off a totally different wine. 

Understanding what is color theory in graphic design will help you pick the right color combinations to set your brand apart. 

Let’s look at two examples. In the world of luxury jewelry no brands have as iconic packaging as Tiffany & Co and Cartier. The actual packaging (size and look of boxes and bags) is pretty standard. 

But what really sets them apart is the striking color: the vibrant teal, and luxurious dark red are instantly recognizable.

Although it’s easy to name lots of brands from the same industry (Harry Winston, Van Cleef, Chopard, De Beers, etc.), you might struggle to remember what the packaging looks like exactly. 

Information hierarchy

Hierarchy is one of the most vital graphic design principles. And one of its pillars is precisely color theory.

Understanding how to combine colors will allow you to highlight necessary information, which can be especially important for creating visuals, such as ads, flyers, or landing pages.

Here’s a quick example. 

Visual appeal

Beauty might be in the eye of the beholder in some cases, but this is not always the case with graphic design. 

As we’re surrounded by graphic design, we subconsciously form “aesthetic standards” for certain types of design. For example, in the early 2000s, bold colors and wacky patterns were considered cutting-edge in website design.

Nowadays, a website like that would look “ugly” and “scammy”. 

Instead, website designers these days focus on user experience. This typically means using neutral colors that are easier on the eyes, and appropriate combinations that achieve a color harmony. 

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More design resources for beginners

We hope this answers the questions “what is color theory in graphic design”, and help you use these findings to create or assess professional designs.

We’ve got a lot more beginner friendly articles on our blog.

Start with this list of graphic design resources, and a step-by-step guide on learning graphic design. For more color-related topics, be sure to check out this article on how to choose a logo color palette, great color combinations for social media and email marketing.