3.9 Conclusion
This chapter reviews the basic principles of colour theory that are relevant to most creative fields, including design. It introduces colour theory and its application in product and environmental design, providing insights into making colour choices in design. It discusses ways to apply colour for communicating meaning, functionality, and creativity in product design. As in previous chapters, there are no prescriptive rules about how to use colour in this chapter, only principles for making informed colour choices. This is not to say that designers should make subjective colour choices, especially since our colour decisions have the potential to make or break the acceptability of the final product. Choosing colours depends on a wide range of variables that relate to product perceptions. What is the message the colours are to communicate? What is culturally in place already? What is the relationship between the colour selections of the product brand and its colour palette? How can colours perform a functional role that enables products to stand out or fit into specific environments? Ultimately, it is just as important to study how we respond to certain colour palettes as it is to study how well we can use a product.
Key Takeaways
The key takeaways from this chapter include:
- Principles for selecting colours in the context of how the colour is perceived, whether as mixed light (additive) or as coloured pigments on surfaces (subtractive).
- The effects of values such as tints, shades, tones, and the kind of light transparency to produce the “right” colour.
- The range of design colour schemes that leverage key colour relationships in products and environments to enhance their ability to communicate information.
- The importance of specifying the exact colours within specific colour systems to end up with the correct colour output.
- The unique principles of applying colour that are relevant to the industrial design of products.
- Approaches for translating colour theory into colour applications that convey messages relevant to industrial design consumers.
- Cultural associations that are attributed to different colours and how they may influence design decisions.
Chapter 3: Design for Colour and Light Perception
Reflection Time!
Instructions
- Type your reflections for the 3Ts below: Thoughts, Tips, and Tools.
- To download your reflections as a document, click EXPORT to open a summary preview, then click the export icon on the top right of the window.
- Use your reflections to recall the key ideas later and to apply them in future situations.
Supplementary Activities for this Chapter
The Sense-It! Activities are categorized according to the Catalyze, Learn, and Apply (CLA) model defining the intended learning outcomes of the different categories of activities. This learning model is described in more depth on page 8 of the booklet Sense-It! In Action: Facilitator’s Guide, along with descriptions of the Sense-It! Product Cards and Sense-It! Tiles. These supplementary resources can be downloaded here.
An overview of each of the Sense-It! Activities and instructions for facilitating them can be found on pages 10-19 of the Facilitators’ Guide. The activities designed to support this chapter can be found starting on page 46 of the Sense-It! Activities booklet.
The next chapter introduces the aesthetics of tactile design, tactile experiences, and meanings associated with material sensations.
Key Words: Colour theory, Colour relationships, Psychology of colour, Colour systems, Colour specifications
