color | drawing for digital media

reading assignment:

why is color important?

color creates brand recognition
colors have the power to elicit an emotional response
color can be a powerful tool to guide the user
bad color can be distracting

print : CMYK : cyan, magenta, yellow, black
subtractive color : combines pigment to produce color; used for printing

web : RGB : Red, Green, Blue
additive color : combines light to produce color used on monitors, tvs, digital cameras

color formats:
rgb : rgb(153,153,153)
hex : #cc3399

qualities of color:

hue : red, green, blue… what color is it?
saturation : is it pure color or diluted?
brightness : is it light or dark

harmonious color/color groupings

analogous
monoghromatic
complementary
triadic

adobe color

illustrator

Now that your character has form, lets develop a color palette for your entire project. From the readings, you’ll understand why it’s important to use color wisely. Too many colors can distract the user. For now, lets try to use only three colors with tints.

When choosing colors, keep the following in mind:

emotional response
mind map nouns : do these knowns provide a color theme?

Here are three methods to help you pick a palette : pick 5, complimentary and from art. Develop three themes and then choose your favorite.

pick 5

create a new file in illustrator
open the swatch palette : window -> swatches
use the small menu tab in the corner -> select all unused -> delete
create a new swatch (click new page icon at the bottom)
name your first color. (“purple”)
select color type : spot color
color mode : hsb
adjust the bars until you have the color you want and click ok
create four more colors
using the shape tool, create five shapes and fill with your colors
refine your colors and reduce to three, as demonstrated in class
save as color study

complimentary

copy one color circle
create a new art board and paste
go to adobe and find the complimentary color
screen capture the bar of color, save to desktop and place in illustrator
create swatches with your dropper tool
condense down to two colors and pick a neutral for a third color

from art

search online for an art image with color that you like and place it on a new page
create a new art board with five circles
continue choosing colors until you have three that you like

dominant color

Examples in our reading showed how powerful use of color can be. A dominant color can set the mood for your entire project. An accent color should be used sparingly to get attention. Set up boxes to explore which of your final colors should be dominant and which should be the accent color.

final colors

Place your final dominance cube on a new page. Create tints of your colors below it.

tints

copy one color color circle
create a new art board and paste; make 5 in a row
double click the swatch and copy the hex color code

tools: circle, square, window->align, edit ->paste in front, dropper tool

color your character and save.

resources:

adobe color