Page 59 - Graphic Design and Print Production Fundamentals

Graphic Design 47
Colour

Figure 3.4 Colours

Graphic design has evolved over the last two centuries from a craft that designed text and images
primarily in black and white for books and broadsheets, to a craft that works with full colour in analog
and digital media and on every kind of substrate. Controlling and effectively using colour to support
communication is now more important than it has ever been. Both media and advertising have become
very sophisticated over the last few decades and are adept at creating exciting, sensuous, and energetic
environments that are crafted with the skillful use of colour and texture. The public, in turn, has absorbed
these unprecedented levels of image saturation with a variety of outcomes. One is an expectation that the
visual palette match and enhance the message. A second outcome is a high expectation for strong and
authentic visuals of places or objects. A third outcome is a cultural nostalgia for earlier looks created
by various devices. Examples like 8-bit graphics or 1950s Kodachrome both possess unique colour and
texture palettes and have properties the public can discern. When one of these nostalgic colour palettes
is applied to an image, it adds another layer of meaning to the work, and that meaning has to make sense
for the viewer.

The explosion of tools for making and sharing digital photography and graphics also reveals how good
the general public has become at crafting visuals with relevant atmosphere and texture. The bar has been
raised very high with colour use in contemporary times, and understanding colour basics is an absolute
necessity.

RBG and CMYK Colour Spaces

Given that design and colour are united in every project, it is important to realize that there are two
colour systems, and often a project needs to work in both. Digital media works in the additive colour
system, and its primary colours are red, green, and blue (RGB). In this system, the absence of colour
equals black, while combining all colours results in white. RGB is the colour system of visible light (see