What is the Science of Light — Color Theory?
There’s more to color than meets the eye. Top brands leverage color theory — the science of how different colors mix, match, and contrast — to shape our emotional responses and persuade us to trust certain products.
If you haven’t thought deeply about the relationship between color and branding, a quick look around any retail environment will be an eye-opener. Consider the rich red tones used by Coca-Cola.
Given this importance, a strong grasp of color theory can help support marketing efforts by making messages more resonant and powerful. Choosing the appropriate primary colors, secondary colors, and tertiary colors can also make messages much more readable and help with comprehension. By failing to grasp the importance of color, the effectiveness of messages can be significantly diminished.
Using colors effectively is not just about throwing whatever colors match your work: it has a lot to do with balance. In other words: the more colors you use, the more complicated it gets to balance them.
What’s really important in the end — check the relationship between the colors you chose and ask yourself these questions: Is there enough (or too much) contrast between them? Is everything clear, defined, and perfectly readable? What kind of mood does your palette evoke? How does one color affect the other, nearby colors? Does the scheme fit the context?
Colors can significantly affect your designs and how others perceive them. Choosing the right color palette represents a huge part of your work — it’s not only an artistic aspect but also a marketing aspect.
