Preserved Topic: color selection

Any of you have any good rule's of thumb for us non artist types for selecting colors? I mean, like picking a complimenting color to go with my starting color. Or, when you need a darker or lighter version of a color to do a beveled gradient effect on a button? It's getting tedious guessing at my color choices all the time because I'm artistically uneducated. Any tips, tricks, or hints, are greatly appreciated.

I don't have any good rule of thumb any more, I just know what looks good and what doesn't anymore. What might help you is a colorwheel, you can find them at hobby stores everywhere.

Thanks for the color wheel suggestion F1. I know what I like, and what I don't. It just takes me forever to get around to the what looks good part with my current trial and error method.


Oh... umm, sorry to hear about your thumb.

color wheels are good but can be confusing.

I have never understood, for instance, why green and red, yellow and blue(?), etc... are "complimentary colors", it seems more like an insult to me!

Try opening up your HSB sliders when choosing colors. Find a color you want to use(a green, for instance) and then use the saturation and brightness sliders for different values of your shade.(lighter and darker = highlights and shadows)

Or use the hue slider to pick a different color (HUE) within the same S & B values as your original color.

This won't always work/guarantee that you will have good taste in colors, but it may be a good start! <img border=0 align=absmiddle src="http://www.ozones.com/forum/smile.gif">

Butcher:

Read this article: http://www.digital-web.com/features/index.shtml

and follow the links too - especially this one: http://www.visibone.com/colorlab/

which is a really cool toy/tool

Damn, this Colorselector is a really fine thing! Nice Idea of the creator!

Thanks Steve, Great links. Man since I found the asylum, my favorites folder gettin' so big it's going to explode.

Steve... I think that color selector has one disadvantage. It doesn't really feature less saturated colors. I know, it's the basic 216 color basic web palette, but I like less saturated colors more in websites. IMHO oversaturated colors makes pages really cheap-looking and childish. What do you think of my website's green, while we're at it? It's at http://mahjqa.topcities.com/

: : Mahjqa : :

Butcher: I had to reinforce my favorites folder with duct tape
<img border=0 align=absmiddle src="http://www.ozones.com/forum/smile.gif">
mahjqa: good point. "Web safe" colors are called that because - they're safe! If you choose to walk on the precipice, that's okay by me. Depends on who you figure your audience will be. I like your green.

Sorry, but I have to take a step back here...

lotiss -- for starters, yellow and blue are not complimentary colors -- blue's compliment is orange, and yellow's is purple.


These are not the colors that were "chosen" for each other. They are labeled as such because they are opposite eachother on the color wheel....it is that colors complete opposite. that simple. Mixing complimentary colors will always result in either brown or grey....grey if the colors are "true" to what they are supposed to be (cheaper paints will usually yeild brown instead of grey).


If you are not familiar with the color wheel...by god make yourself familiar with it! it is, in my opinion at least, essential knowledge.

Trying to be an artist without understanding the color wheel is like trying to be a musician without understanding the circel of 5ths.



[This message has been edited by DL-44 (edited 15-12-2000).]

Yep, same thing goes for my favorites folder, butcher. Had a clear strukture before I visited the asylum and now I have so many links... hehe think have to order them somehow again... .. .
<img border=0 align=absmiddle src="http://www.ozones.com/forum/tongue.gif">
Mahjqa-> I like the look of your site. Very nice! How do you like mine then?

BTW:
I have a good book about colors from Rockport. Also the one of Lynda Weinman is dealing with webcolors alot.


::..ICQ - 1929739

[This message has been edited by tyron (edited 15-12-2000).]

Hrm, an interesting tidbit, since real life(not light emitting) media can only subtract from the light spectrum, it uses CYM(cyan, yellow, magenta, you might have been taught with RYB, which works, but is inaccurate) the primaries, on the other hand, light emitting sources(tv's, computers, etc) use additive colors, RGB(which we know and love).

I personally don't think complements work very well on web pages, I like color themes with analogous colors(like the asylum).

This page is pretty easily the most comprehensive color theory page I've come across(its geared towards painters but a lot of the stuff will still be applicable):
http://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/wcolor.html


<img border=0 align=absmiddle src="http://www.ozones.com/forum/mad.gif"> mad slimie of worthless knowledge

Actually I'm a liar, I've been using a light orange/yellow background with dark blue text... I think that works though because the blue is so dark its almost black and the background is nice and light, so its more of just a contrast with a bit of color... I need to make a web page for you guys to see.

quote:

---

I personally don't think complements work very well on web pages, I like color themes with analogous colors(like the asylum).

---

umm, blue background, orange foreground.........? <img border=0 align=absmiddle src="http://www.ozones.com/forum/wink.gif">

hehe

overall I dislike complimentary color schemes as well, but they can be made to look good if done right.

Tyron:
Das ist ja eine ganz kleine, aber sehr gute site! Ich weiss nicht genau about die farben. Wann sie die site mal in photoshop laden und CTRL-U drucken, und [saturation] + 15 machen, enter drucken, das wurde meine farbenchoice gewesen sein. Verzeihung fur mein schlechtes Deutsch. Aber die design und navigation sind sehr gut!

Auf wiener schnitzel!

: : Mahjqa : :

other people: Go figure <img border=0 align=absmiddle src="http://www.ozones.com/forum/biggrin.gif">