There are many different ways you can use colors to represent your brand in design projects. By using color harmony, for example, you can create a cohesive aesthetic that will make your company’s logo and adverts seem more polished and professional.
As you begin to experiment with creating your own color palettes, you might find yourself wondering whether you are doing it right. Getting color harmony right is harder than it sounds, and there are some established design principles you’ll need to follow to get it on point. Luckily, Simplified’s on hand to help you with this!
In this blog, we’ll teach you everything you need to know about the concept of color harmony and provide you with some real-life color harmony examples. So, what are we waiting for? Let’s get stuck in.
What is Color Harmony?
Color harmony is the practice of combining colors in an aesthetically pleasing way. It’s an art and a science – one that can be a little bit intimidating for a new designer or artist. However, when you become familiar with using this tool, you will see that it’s not only simple but also very effective.
The concept of color harmony is based on the color wheel, which is a circular diagram of colors.
The primary colors – red, yellow, and blue – are located equal distances apart on the color wheel. The secondary colors – purple, green, and orange – are set halfway between the primary colors. Remember that the secondary colors are made by mixing the primary colors. For example, if you mix red and blue, you get purple. The other spaces are filled with tertiary colors, which are blends of one primary and one secondary color. You can include any color you can think of in a color wheel, but usually, commercial wheels only include 12 colors.
To create color harmony, it is important to pay attention to the cold (also called ‘cool’) and warm colors. The cool colors are blue, green, and purple, while the warm colors are red, yellow, and orange. The cold colors are calm and watery, while the warm colors are energetic and intense. When you start planning your color scheme and creating your harmony, think about the mood you want to set and the feelings you’d like to evoke. After that, you can choose the temperature of your colors and get creating. The last thing that you need to know in terms of temperature is that black, grey, and white are known as neutral colors.
Related: Hues, Tints, Tones, and Shades: What’s the Difference?
What is Monochromatic Color harmony?
Monochromatic color harmony is a color scheme based on a single-color hue. It only uses different tints and shades of the same hue.
In case you’re new to this, a hue is a color without any shades or tones. Your design would therefore use only shades of one color that are created by altering the saturation and brightness of this base color. Also, keep in mind that you can always add black and white because they are the brightest and the darkest shades respectively.
Tints are the lighter versions of the color, made by adding white to it, while the shades are the darker tones, which you get from adding black to the color.
Lastly, a tone is the vibrancy of the hue, which you can alter by adding grey. Now that we’ve discussed some of the basic terms of monochromatic color harmony, let’s see some examples of it.
Examples of Monochromatic Color Harmony
Creating a monochromatic color harmony means that there is only one color and its variations in the image. The first example is of a yellow monochromatic image.
By using this technique you create what is called color dominance harmony. You can make this with any color you’d like, or even with cool and warm colors.
Yellow
The second example is a red color harmony, which you can create by adding black, white, and grey to adjust the overall hue.
Red
Related: The Ultimate Guide To Monochromatic Colors & How To Use Them
What is Analogous Color Harmony?
Analogous colors are located next to each other, no matter which side of the color wheel they are on. They usually represent color harmonies that you will find in nature and which are visually serene. But you should be careful how you use analogous colors, so you don’t end up with an image that looks as if you’ve used monochromatic color harmony instead.
You can use an analogous harmonious color palette with very similar, fewer contrast shades or a combination of high-contrast shades. Now, you’ll be able to see a few analogous color harmony examples to get a better idea of what we mean.
Analogous Color Harmony Examples
Blue-Green
This analogous color harmony works because the hues are next to each other on the color wheel. Plus, the colors give the image a serene, calm, and soothing feel; there’s nothing fierce or overly active to see here.
Yellow-Green
This image is a good example of colors that you can easily find in nature. Another reason why it works so well is because of the contrast and harmony of colors. While yellow is a warm color, green is a cool one, making the natural combination of the two a harmonious experience for the eye.
How To Use Simplified For Creating Harmonious In Color Images
If you need to design images with different color palettes you’ve come to the right place! Simplified is a free all-in-one tool with which you can do everything. So, if you need to design posts for social media or other types of marketing campaigns, you can easily use Simplified’s templates to do so.
You’ll have the chance to use many beautifully designed graphic design templates with harmonious color palettes – plus, a number of other tools that can boost your company’s branding.
Related: All You Need To Know About Complementary Colors On The Color Wheel
Final remarks
When you think about color harmony, it can be easy to get overwhelmed. There are so many different colors and combinations that it’s difficult to determine what will look good together. But we hope what we’ve told you about monochromatic color harmony and analogous color harmony has answered any questions you might have.
