Choosing and using color is important. Why? Whether we are designing a picture or deciding upon how an image should look the kinds of color we select and display in our work can have a strong effect on our audience. Color can affect mood as well as how easy or difficult it is to understand what we're showing others. The careful use of color has the potential to make our work interesting, memorable, and effective. Use the resources below to help you tap into in the power of color.
The Adobe Color Wheel is an internet application from Adobe Systems that allows users to experiment with, create, save and explore various color schemes, each of which consists of a set of five colors.
ColorHexa is a free color tool providing information about any color. Just type any color values (like #40d174 or #fc342d) in the search field and it will offer a detailed description. The site also lists helpful color names and features a color blender.
Color in Motion by María Claudia Cortés is a humorous interactive exploration of the numerous ideas and emotions that we associate with each color.
Colorotate (created by Idea.org) allows visitors to explore and experiment with color combinations with a web-based 3D tool. Visitors to the site may also explore topics such as:
The Effect of Color is a 7 minute video from the PBS Arts Off Book series. Read an outline of the video. The video explores the following topics