Colour Theory for Graphic Design
Elearning is by and large a visual medium, and where visuals are concerned, you should think about your colour choices. You may be restricted to the brand identity colours of your client, but there are still ways to make use of your limited palette to facilitate learning.
Your use of colour has an impact on the learning process. Colour can help make parts of your graphics easier to read, signal objects of importance, and change the mood or emotion of your scenes.
Understanding Colour
Colours can be described by their hue, value, and saturation.
Hue refers to the colour itself, or the dominant wavelength. They are classified into six major hues – red, green, blue, cyan, magenta and yellow. You may be familiar with these as making up the RGB and CMYK colour models.
Value can also be called brightness or luminosity, and refers to how much white or black is added into the colour. This creates light and dark variations of a colour.
Saturation, also called chroma, is the purity of a colour. The more saturated a colour is, the brighter, richer and fuller the colour is, and the less saturated, the more muted and gray.
Once you understand these dimensions, you can use colour more effectively. If you don’t want an image to stand out, you could desaturate the colours and turn down the value. If you need a graphic to pop, you increase the saturation, and also select a colour that contrasts with your background colours. Refer to a colour wheel to see what colours contrast with each other.
For more tips on improving your graphics for elearning, check out the other articles on our blog, or contact us to see how we can help your elearning stand out!
