Color Schemes

As we saw in the last lesson, picking the right colors for your document could get pretty complicated. Luckily, color schemes are easy to apply and can make your work stand out (in a good way). Here are a few of my favorite color schemes:

Monochromatic

This color scheme focuses on colors within the same hue. You simply adjust the saturation or value to create different colors to work with. Here are a few examples:

 

Complimentary

This color scheme is the one you'll see used most often. This is because it is extremely effective at drawing the eye. A complimentary color scheme is accomplished by picking colors that are exact opposites of each other on the color wheel. Here are a few examples: 

Huh, look at that last example. Blue and orange color combinations seem to be everywhere now that I think about it. Think about this the next time you're watching a movie and the characters seem just a bit more orange than they should against a bright blue sky. This is because the effects artists are coloring the image to follow this color scheme.

Credit: tvtropes.com Links to an external site.

 

Triadic

This color scheme is a bit less common, and a bit more difficult to balance, but if you can pull it off, the effect is fantastic. Essentially, you pick a color on the color wheel then pick two other colors an equal distance away from the central point. This will make a triangle of color. Here are some examples:

Color schemes created using the Adobe Color Wheel Links to an external site..