A Visual Design Glossary

Curvilinear lines depicting the palm tree and island

Shade and value on the island in the foreground

Contrast between the dark figure and the light ocean

Motion in the wavy lines of the water

These prehistoric cave paintings in the Bhimbetka rock shelters in central India date back roughly 30,000 years. Despite their age, these paintings still utilize the principles of design aesthetics. The human scale of the figures both gives context for the size of the animals as well as creates a slight hierarchy, emphasizing the slightly-larger figures. The human proportions are not entirely realistic; the geometry is more of a representation of people than a true figure study. 

Scale and Proportion Glossary

Scale ​is the size of one object in relation to other objects in a design;  a certain relative or proportionate size or extent (ex: a human is 7.5 heads tall);  a standard of measurement or estimation (ex: the UFO was as big as a football field);  point of reference by which to gauge or rate (ex. my puppy is twice as big as your chihuahua).

Aspect ratio​ refers to the proportions of the height and width of an image. It defines its overall shape, and it is usually shown as W:H (W is the width and H is the height).

Geometry​: Spheres, cubes, cylinders can be used to build more complex objects

Hierarchy​: Arranged according to importance or power. What’s bigger or taller is often more important or harder to kill.

Human scale​: sets the stage for the story happening to human-sized characters

Proportions​: The size of the parts compared to the whole; Relativity.

A ratio tells us what proportions mean to each other; measuring one thing in terms of another. Example: That monster is twice the size of the human. Their ratio is 2 to 1.

Stone carvings and ceramics are cornerstones of ancient Mayan art. This fifth- or sixth-century two-piece censer, called Seated Figure Censer (Incensario), originated in Guatemala and is currently located at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Censers like these were used in a variety of burning rituals and often depicted deities or rulers. The face in the middle of the piece is emphasized. It’s large size and higher relief contrasts with the smaller surrounding details, and its central placement makes it the focal point of the beautiful design.

Emphasis Glossary

Emphasis​: Pow! Something in a scene dominates. In other words, the designer gives visual priority to part of a scene in order to draw the eye there first.

Contrast​ in size, color, texture can make one thing stand out from the many things around it.

Focal Point​: The focal point demands attention, it is accentuated, contrasted; the star or the most prominent component of a scene.

Isolation: ​Featuring a single element alone and away from other elements to create emphasis.

One Element​: Eliminate everything else in the composition and the thing that’s left will grab the attention, such as a bold title or symbol.

Placement​: Position your most important design component in a place to grab attention, such as the center of a poster.

Subordination​: The focal point has the visual power while other elements of the scene are subordinate.

Paper-cutting, or Scherenschnitte (”scissor cuts”), is a four-hundred-year-old Swiss craft that continues to be practiced today. The art is created by cutting designs out of paper, typically black or white. Traditionally, the works depict snapshots of folk life or the local landscape, though in recent years the art has expanded to showcase a wider variety of stories and scenes. The above example, “Schweizer Fest” or “Swiss Celebration”, was made by contemporary Swiss artist Erika Hager. The symmetrical, balanced design enhances the high contrast of the black paper on the white background. There is also contrast between the heavy black areas and the delicate details, between the strong repeating horizontal lines and the vertical trees, and between the outer design and the different middle area. 

Contrast Glossary

Contrast​ refers to the arrangement of opposite elements (light vs. dark colors, rough vs. smooth textures, large vs. small shapes, etc.) in a composition so as to create visual interest, excitement and drama.  Contrast​ creates variety within a unit, draws the eye to a focal point, creates a sense of adventure or mystery. ​Contrast​is a unifier​.​ Value contrast is when a character or object has strong darks and lights compared to the scene around it. Size contrast is a gigantic space cruiser compared to much smaller fighters.

Asymmetrical​ balance is a dynamic compositional strategy in which each side of the axis are distinctly different yet belong to the same story.

High contrast​ is strong dissimilarity such as black letters on a white background. The high contrast setting is an accessibility feature built into interfaces to assist people with vision impairment. In visual perception of the real world, contrast is determined by the difference in the color and brightness of the object and other objects within the same field of view. Because the human visual system is more sensitive to contrast than absolute luminance, we can perceive the world similarly regardless of the huge changes in illumination over the day or from place to place.

Low contrast​ means a minimum of contrast between light and dark, so that the image is either predominantly dark or predominantly light. The sun sets, dusk sets in and in the gloom there is low contrast in the landscape.

Symmetrical ​is a form of balance in which both sides of the axis are the same, a mirror image of each other, creating stability and formality.  In visual storytelling the symmetrical formal balance is often contrasted with the dynamic action of asymmetrical configurations. For example, the formal balance and discipline on the Death Star in Star Wars is contrasted with the diversity of the different rebel cells and militias from across the galaxy. The dynamic contrasting rhythms and visuals of the dark side contrasted with the Jedi and rebel alliance has kept the franchise going for decades.

Pavel Tchelitchew is a Russian artist notable for his use of surrealism as well as his anatomical studies and costume designs. Tchelitchew’s dark, teeming works were often influenced by his experiences living through both World Wars and Russia’s history as the Soviet Union. Tête (1950), a pastel-on-paper work, uses visual rhythm and pattern to depict the form of a head. The repeating ellipses progress in rhythm as they expand outward. The overlapping areas create polyrhythmic patterns as the multi-sized shapes collide and register in the viewer’s mind at different speeds. 

Rhythm Glossary

Rhythm​ is caused by patterns in movement. What are those footsteps in the dark room? Are they slow or fast? Running or sneaking up on you? Rhythm controls the pace of action in your story. Rhythm can be repeated character types, weapons, or color strategies. We see and hear rhythm throughout nature as well as in our digital environment. Rhythm organizes units into patterns. Rhythm is created through repetition, alternation, and progression.

Alternating rhythm is a form of repetition and is predictable. We switch back and forth from one thing to another like a tennis match. Alternating rhythm can create tension, such as switching close up head shots of one character arguing with another.

Audio​​ Rhythm​: Sounds that create patterns such breathing or shooting rounds of ammo.

Conceptual ​​Rhythm​: Intensifies, moves along, or calms the story. Conceptual rhythm coordinates visual and audio rhythm with the pace of your story.

Contrasting Rhythms​ are two or more sounds or motions at obviously different  tempos.

Legato ​means music in a smooth flowing manner, without breaks between notes or a smooth flowing motion.

Polyrhythmic patterns​: Use of simultaneous contrasting rhythms. A battle scene has many (poly) rhythms such as big guns, small guns, shouts, rumbles, footsteps, and explosions.

Progressive​ rhythm is a pattern that changes over time to more or less intensity. Progressive rhythm makes us feel that. something is in an evolving state of change. We can tell when the battle is heating up by the rhythm of the sounds and the actions of the characters running toward or away from the fighting.

Repeating the same thing again and again gives us a feeling of predictability.

Rhythm and motion​: When a motion repeats, speeds up, slows down it creates a rhythm. The rhythm of tai chi is slow. The rhythm of Kung Fu is fast.

Staccato ​derives from the Italian verb staccare, meaning "to detach," and can now describe anything - not just sounds - made, done, or happening in an abrupt or disjointed way.

Design aesthetics go global! The violinist (1967), an oil painting by modern Ecuadorian artist Oswaldo Guayasamín, is a wonderful example of unity. The repetition of strong vertical and horizontal lines (as seen in the legs, violin, shoulders and bent neck, etc.) in the composition create visual unity throughout the piece. The contrast of the dark, light, and color achieves the same goal. This poignant image successfully employs these unifying strategies as it tells the story of Guayasamín’s culture. 

Unity Glossary

Unity​ - is an entity that is a systematic whole. A fusion or union of parts in harmony to create a oneness. A game is a unity based on a fusion of levels.

Alignment​ – a common axis creates relationship, the line up creates meaning. Alignment in games can help you find your way on the map or aim true with your weapon. Alignment of troops or vessels indicates organizational strength. Maps are visually aligned with the edge of the frame. Your stats are aligned in a table.

Beat Boards​ are used to illustrate major story points before the rest of the storyboard is completed. Beat boards are a series of single drawings that depict key focal points in a scene. Beat Boards can be compared to a children's book illustration because an individual picture shows a complex story. Beat boards can serve in art direction to indicate how the shot is staged and show color strategies, using shapes and colors, but are not detailed sketches.

Composition is the arrangement of visual elements within a shot. The three basic shot compositions in filmmaking are long-shot, medium-shot, and close-up.

Conceptual unity​ – a palm tree, an ocean beach, and a beer unify around the concept of “vacation”.

Contrast​ creates variety within a unit, draws the eye to a focal point, creates drama. ​Contrast is a unifier​. ​Contrast is when a character or object has a strong darks and lights compared to the scene around it. Size contrast is a gigantic space cruiser compared to much smaller fighters.

Proximity​– closer distances connect elements and far apart elements create separation and sometimes magnetism.

Repetition​ – things that look alike relate to each other. Shapes or colors that recur in the image create rhythm and recognizable situations.

Unifying Strategies​ -- Designers manipulate contrast, repetition, alignment and proximity too create visual unity and to pull a story along.

Point is a term with many definitions and it can be difficult to visualize each of them in context. In the above image, taken from the series The Legend of Korra, season 4 episode 13, the focal point is the bright yellow-green beam in the midground, as framed by the foreground and far background. The beam, a newly-formed spirit portal, also marks the point of no return in the plot for main character Korra; because of her role in creating it, the dynamic between humans and spirits in the show was forever changed. The image itself is created from numerous visual points that converge in the viewer’s eyes to create lines, color, etc., and the screen it is displayed on builds that image using pixels. In this way, “point” can refer to both literal visual components as well as concepts. 

Point Glossary

Point​ is the smallest visual component.

Pixel ​is a recently invented groovy word. The word "pixel" was first published in 1965 by Frederic C. Billingsley of​​ Jet Propulsion Laboratory to describe the picture elements of video images from space probes to the moon and Mars. A pixel is the basic unit of programmable color on a computer display. Think of it as a logical - rather than a physical - unit. The physical size of a pixel depends on how you've set the resolution for the display screen. Each visual composition on your screen is made of thousands of illuminated points of hue and value.

Focal point​ is the​ feature​ of a ​​design or work of art that is the most​ interesting​, important,​ or the most​ strongly​ emphasized​.

The Point​ is what a player will tell a friend about the game if they like it.

The point​ is the mission or a moving target.

Texture and pattern can be seen within the environment of Genshin Impact, an open-world role-playing game released September 2020. The smooth cut stones (arranged in a radial pattern) with moss in the cracks and the glossy crystal surface of the waypoint floating above, the softness of the foliage and the pattern of the stone walls in the background; as a 3D game, these visuals were likely achieved and implemented through texture mapping. Many successful games employ unique patterns and textures to immerse the players in the world of the game. 

Pattern and Texture Glossary

Pattern

Pattern is an arrangement, configuration, array, formation, guide, matrix of repeated forms. Patterns create rhythm and can be used to predict and organize design elements such as using a grid. In software development patterns are conventions for describing and documenting recurring design decisions within a given context.

Alternating pattern means to occur in succession, such as day alternating with night. To pass back and forth from one state, action, or place to another such as alternate between happiness.

Chiaroscuro is a technique of painting or drawing using a predictable sequence of light and shade to achieve a three-dimensional quality. From the wayback machine: [1680–90; < Italian, =chiaro bright (< Latin clārus) + oscuro dark (< Latin obscūrus)]. Chiaroscuro has been digitized to give depth and dimension in every 3-D video game or animation object.

Collage is a technique of an art production, primarily used in the visual arts, where the artwork is made from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole. Collage is a prototyping process used to assemble colors, textures, silhouettes and other assets to test ideas, colors, size relationships.

Gradient is continuous change, darkening, lightening, increasing or decreasing color saturation. A gradient is created when two or more different colors are layered to paint one element while gradually fading between the hues or values.

Grid means a rectangular system of coordinates used in locating the principal elements of a plan.

Progressive patterns create active change, momentum by shifting in a direction, increasing, escalating, or accelerating.

Radial balanced patterns are based on a circle with its design extending from its center. A few examples of radial balance are; a star, the iris in one's eyes, and a wheel with spokes.

Texture

Texture of something is the way that it feels when you touch it, how smooth or rough it is. The texture of an object depends on the unique structure of its molecules. Fur may feel soft or coarse, metal may be oiled and shiny or rusted and rough.

Tactile textures are physical, touchable textures that you can actually feel on your skin in the real world, like when you pet a cat or dog.

Texture mapping is a process in which a two-dimensional surface, a texture map, is wrapped around a three-dimensional object. When wrapped, the 3-D object acquires a visual surface texture. Texture maps create high frequency detail, surface texture, or color information on a computer-generated graphic or 3D model.

This frame from the final battle in the special episode “Phineas and Ferb: Mission Marvel” (2013) is a fantastic example of motion. The viewer feels the anticipated action of the scene as the Hulk gears up to comically slap the villain Red Skull with a fish. As the Hulk twists around, a clear line of action captures the direction of his movement. Throughout this quick interaction between the two characters, they are framed in accordance with the 180-degree rule; they are kept side-by-side as the camera jumps between them. 

Motion Glossary

Motion is action, reaction, energy, what’s happening, gestures, dynamics, mobility, exertion, labor, and progress through space. Motion varies with your story. Motion indicators In storyboards are arrows, blurred lines, smears, zooms in and out. Your character is dramatized and embodied as a personality through gestural actions.

In filmmaking, the 180-degree rule is a basic guideline regarding the on-screen spatial relationship between a character and another character or object within a scene. By keeping the camera on one side of an imaginary axis between two characters, the first character is always framed right of the second character. Moving the camera over the axis is called jumping the line or crossing the line; breaking the 180-degree rule by shooting on all sides is known as shooting in the round.

Anticipated Action: A dramatic action frozen in time, the tension mounts, we feel anticipation. We expect the sword to swing or the finger to pull the trigger or the couple to kiss.

Camera Motion:  Arrows are standard cues, a simple and recognizable way to show motion or progression in a storyboard.

Kinesthetic Empathy:  A player’s actual movement when responding to action in a game. Leaning into a curve in a driving game is kinesthetic empathy.

Line of action is an artistic concept, an invisible line that captures the thrust and vitality of the movement. The line of action can be drawn by artists as the first element to capture or exaggerate the pose. 

Motion Blur: When your eyes or objects are in motion, the image will suffer from motion blur, resulting in an inability to resolve details. To cope with this, humans generally alternate between saccades (quick eye movements) and fixation (focusing on a single point). How is this biological situation useful in storyboard drawing? How do storyboard artists use motion blur? How does a smear function in animated motion?

Optical movement is an optical illusion. Although the image is not moving, it appears to move. To see examples search “Op Art”.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse (2018), a personal favorite of mine, has a unique style that relies heavily on shape. In this climactic scene, multiple dimensions are converging as Miles Morales (Spider-Man) battles Kingpin. Kingpin’s shape is unnaturally rectilinear; his iconic design is a comically distorted version of the typical human body.  The background is completely abstract, composed up spots, blobs, bursts, and various small non-objective shapes. Miles and Kingpin are both nearly silhouettes, save for a few details. The visual combination of so many shapes and objects is part of what makes this scene so thrilling.

Shape Glossary

Shape is the external form or appearance characteristic of someone or something; the outline of an area or figure. As a verb, to shape is to give a particular form. As artists, we shape our characters outward appearance by using shapes.

Abstract means no recognizable objects. Abstraction is a sliding scale from realism to completely non-representational. Abstract shapes can be used in backgrounds and textures.

Biomorphic is a free-form pattern or design with a shape suggestive of a living organism, especially an amoeba or protozoan.

Curvilinear shapes are s-curves. Curvilinear shapes inform Jessica Rabbit’s character design and can represent a winding river vanishing into the distance.

Distortion is exaggeration, contortion, reform, slant, twist, or warp in ways that depart from reality. Look at the Minecraft human body for example.  

Idealism asserts that the physical world is less important than the mind or the spirit which shapes and animates it. Idealists choose the soul, the mind, or the psyche over the body, the material, and the historical. When ideals (of appearance, or proportion for example) regulate the way an artist represents the world, her work can be described as Idealistic. The leading artists of the High Renaissance - Leonardo, Raphael and Michelangelo - are all associated with varying forms of Idealism, as were ancient Greek sculptors. How do you think idealism affects avatar customization?

Non-objective shapes have no object as a reference and no recognizable subject matter. Non-objective shapes are often used to simplify design shapes. Geometric shapes such as a triangle, square, and circle are abstract until you put them together to represent a house or a smiley face. One Minecraft block, away from the game, is a non-objective shape.  Inside the game that same block, depending on it’s color and texture could represent a part of a landscape, sheep, or sword. The block as part of a character or environment inside the game would no longer be abstract.

Positive space is the subject, focal point, or areas of high interest in any composition. Negative space is the area around the areas of interest. All compositions balance positive and negative space. Yes, stuff in the negative space can point to the focal point to make it most obvious. Positive and negative create a whole. Every composition is a combination of positive and negative space. Wield the positive and negative spaces with control and story-telling magic to become a design master.

Realism, or naturalism, attempts to represent subject matter truthfully, without artificiality or exotic or supernatural elements. In the visual arts, illusionistic realism strives for the accurate depiction of lifeforms, perspective, and the details of light and color.

Rectilinear is a boxy shape made with straight lines. For example, the screen you are looking at is a rectilinear shape filled with little square pixels, and pixels are also rectilinear. A storyboard is a series of  drawings in a linear set of rectilinear frames.

Representational means objects that players can name. The object represents something from the real world, or something that has the verisimilitude of realism. A cartoon bunny can represent a rabbit without being realistic. Representational is a sliding scale from realism to almost abstract. 2 dots and a curve can be arranged into an abstract pattern or they can be arranged into an emoji that represents a smiley face.

Silhouette is a profile or shape that is easy to identify.

This shot from Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) effectively utilizes the principles of space to show an expansive setting. Atmospheric perspective causes the distant mountain to seem to fade into the sky and out of view, while the sharp diagonal of the zipline through the frame pulls the viewer’s eye into that environment and creates depth. There is strong contrast between the foreground (Captain America and Bucky), the middleground (the start of the zipline and the nearest section of mountain), and the background (the distant train tracks and the furthest mountain). 

Space and Depth Glossary

Space is an area, expanse, territory, distance or range. Variable spaces expand or contract as our stories unfold. A closeup has a short range. A wide shot covers a lot of territory.

Atmospheric perspective:  Value contrast and color saturation decrease with distance. Brightness increases as objects fade further into the background. In addition, objects such as mountains may appear more blue.

Diagonal shapes pull the eye in a direction to create the illusion of depth. If the diagonal is going back like a railroad track or fence-line the eye will follow it into the perceived distance.

An ellipse is an oval shape. Elliptical perspective provides visual clues to the location of curved surfaces in space. Look straight down on a glass of water. The rim of the glass is a circle. Move the glass to the side, the rim now appears as an ellipse. Line up the rim at your exact eye level, the ellipse now appears as a straight line.

Foreground, middleground, and background:  The 3 treatments of objects in space support design to achieve depth. This template for placing and sizing objects in the picture plane shows variations on the foreground, middleground, and background configurations.

Foreshortening is when an object's dimensions appear shorter when angled toward the viewer. At the same time the part coming toward the viewer is enlarged.

Linear perspective is a system used by artists in which the relative size, shape, and position of objects are determined by drawn or imagined lines converging at a point on the horizon.

Overlap is when part of one object is obscured by another object. The obscuring object appears to be in front.

In an image of a landscape, S-curve or winding path will draw the eye of the viewer into a perceived distance.

Size relationships: Objects appear smaller as their distance from the observer increases.

Transparency or opacity is when we feel like we can see objects through a glassy, gauzy, smoky, or dusty layer. The transparent/opacity adjustment affects the saturation and color of objects to give a feel of depth.

Vertical position places objects higher up in the composition to appear further away.

This Halloween scene from season 1, episode 6 of WandaVision (2021) uses value to contrast the dark, eerie town setting with the more brightly lit (and much more colorfully costumed) hero, Vision. Placing these light and dark values in direct opposition is a strong visual clue that Vision is not the same as anyone or anything else around him, and draws emphasis to him on screen. A sense of space is also created in the environment using value; the far background has extremely low value (nearly completely dark) while the foreground is slightly lighter. 

Value Glossary

Value in design is lightness or darkness on a scale of white to black (with white being the highest value and black being the lowest value). Value is widely considered to be one of the most important variables to the success of a design.

Chiaroscuro (English: kee-AR-ə-SKOOR-oh, -​SKEWR-, Italian:; Italian for "light-dark"), is the use of strong contrasts between light and dark with bold contrasts affecting a whole composition. Chiaroscuro is a technical term for the use of contrasts of light to achieve a sense of volume in modelling three-dimensional objects and figures.

Light and dark: Every element in your design has a value from 1% black (almost white) to 100% black. Value is relative to everything in the composition. Every color has an underlying value somewhere between white and black.

Value as emphasis happens when a strong contrast in value draws attention to itself, such as on an ancient Greek vase, illustrating value contrast in the service of visual storytelling.

Value and space: Designers use dark and light values to create the illusion of light as it falls on objects. Value is used to create the illusion of highlights and shadows.  Highlights and shadows combine to create the illusion of a light source. The pattern of light and dark can create dimension, volume, and mass.

This still from the beginning of Spider-Man (2002) is a frame from the iconic opening credit sequence Marvel used throughout the 2000s. The sequence quickly overlays various comic book-style panels as the white “Marvel” logo is slowly built up in front of the images. The bold, explicit lines are able to clearly depict someone getting punched, while various line weights are used to differentiate the main shapes (the contour of the face, arm, etc.,) and the details (the whoosh of the punch, individual teeth, and so on). This particular panel has a strong line of action that follows the swinging fist as it curves from left to right and the face is knocked back. The use of 2D lines and a graphic style immediately engages the audience’s imaginations and captures their attention. 

Line Glossary

Lines have both a direction and a length. Line means a mark, streak, stroke, slash, path, stripe, border, contour, striation, course, route, and track. Curved, bent, thick, wide, broken, vertical, horizontal, burred, or freehand, lines delineate shapes, forms, and spaces, volumes, edges, movement and patterns. Not only that -- lines create both2D and 3D objects and figures.

Contour lines indicate the edge around an object or the changes in volume within an object. Contour lines dramatize changes of plane within the form. The curve of a belt around the waist is a contour line.

Diagonal lines are useful to draw the eye into a composition such as toward the vanishing points. Three common types of diagonals are 1) actual diagonal lines, 2) objects placed diagonally in a scene, and 3) a diagonal line created by the viewpoint such as the Dutch tilt. 

Dutch Tilt (known as a Dutch angle, canted angle, or oblique angle) is a type of camera shot that  has a noticeable tilt on the camera’s “x-axis.” The Dutch tilt camera technique was introduced by German Expressionists in the 1920s — so it's not actually Dutch. Directors often use a Dutch angle to signal to the viewer that something is wrong, disorienting, or unsettling.

Explicit means clear, direct, and obvious.  If a drawing is easy to read it may be that the lines are explicit, clean, with efficient use of variety.

Gesture lines capture motion, such as in an action pose when gesture drawings are used in storyboards. 

Implied lines in 3-D scenes are lines in a scene that are not physically there but is suggested by points in the art. Implied lines suggest the edges of an object or planes within an object. The line may be broken such as a dotted line, it may be defined by value, color, or texture, or it may not be visible at all. With implied lines, our brain interprets that a line exists.

Line As value has a long history. Artists have used line drawings to create value, or shading, and to achieve the impression of volume.

Line of action, or motion, is an imaginary line that extends through the main action of the figure. When you draw an action figure you can capture the line of action on one layer then draw the figure drawing on another layer.

Line quality is the expressive essence of lines. Varying the line quality makes objects appear more 3-dimensional and exciting. Range in line quality heightens descriptive and suggestive potential. A single line can change in darkness and width, or can vanish all together to mentally reconnect later on an edge.

Line weight refers to the thickness or thinness of a line.

We don’t really need a strong contour line around every part of an object because our brain will fill in the blank where the edge disappears. When a line fades out and then restarts further along the edge it is called a lost and found line. 

In this flashback scene from Thor: Ragnarok (2017), colors are used to show the dynamics of battle and to further support the roles of each side. The brightness surrounding the flying Valkyries, inherently creating dramatic value contrast with their silhouettes, immediately codes them as heroes. In the same way, the darkness that surrounds the opposing Hela confirms her status as the main antagonist of the film. The use of orange and blue hues, which are a complementary dyad and are as opposite of each other as possible, not only create visual interest but also represent the clashing parties. Orange and blue also hold a warm/cool relationship that adds further drama to the scene.

Color Glossary

Visible light spectrum is the segment of the electromagnetic spectrum that the human eye can view. This range of wavelengths is called visible light. Typically, the human eye can detect wavelengths from 380 to 700 nanometers.

Color psychology is the study of the effect that colors have on emotions, behavior and feelings of people.

Color systems classify color and analyze their effects. -The additive color system is used for colors of light such as light emitted from computers, phone screens, and projectors. Red, green, and blue are the primary colors. -The subtractive color system is used for pigments such as ink, dye, and paint. Cyan, magenta, and yellow are the primary colors.

Change in Color is to use color to separate the foreground, midground, and background planes to create the illusion of depth and is commonly used in animation.

The color wheel, or color circle, arranges a pattern of hues around a circle. There are several versions of the color wheel or color circle. The circle connects relationships between hues to illustrate color strategies (see 12 Color Strategies at the end). Color wheel history goes way back.

Local color is the natural color of an object unmodified by adding unrealistic light and shadow or any other distortion. The color that the eye observes is altered by lighting conditions such as time of day or the surrounding environment. The local color of a lemon is yellow.

A palette is the range of colors used in a particular composition or by any person who uses color such as an artist, house painter or interior decorator. An example of a palette is Vincent Van Gogh’s limited palette of hues in his Starry Night painting. Starry Night’s palette is a variety of blues, greens and yellows.

Properties of color are hue, saturation, and brightness. The H, S, and B in the Photoshop Color Panel stand for hue, saturation, and brightness. -Hue is the named color around the color circle such as red, orange, green, yellow, violet, and blue. -Saturation is the intensity or purity of a hue. Fire engine red is more highly saturated than brick red or the color of red wine. -Brightness is the perceived intensity of light coming from a source such as a screen. On a color screen, brightness is the average of the red, green and blue pixels on the screen. Brightness is important to both color perception and battery life on mobile devices. Brightness of a screen can be adjusted.

Symbolism of color in art and anthropology refers to the use of color as a symbol in various cultures. There is great diversity in the use of colors and their associations. Diversity in color symbolism occurs because color meanings and symbolism occur on an individual, cultural and universal basis. Color symbolism is also context-dependent and changes over time.

12 Color Strategies:

Monochromatic means variations of a single hue such as a light blue and a dark blue or a greenish aqua blue and a lavender blue.

Achromatic color strategy integrates variations of black, white, gray, and a full range of neutrals.

Full Spectrum Strategy represents the full circle of spectral colors by incorporating at least five of the base hues.

In the Achromatic/Chromatic Mix strategy Achromatic colors dominate the composition with a chromatic hue accent.

Warm/Cool: Contrasting ‘temperatures’ of warm & cool. Cool colors appear on the green/blue/violet side of the color wheel. The colors on the red/orange/yellow side of the color wheel are called warm. Emphasis is on the contrast between warm and cool achromatics: brown - gold (warm), grays - silver (cool).

Saturation Similarities : Hues may vary in this strategy, but all colors must have the same or very similar saturations. Saturation Contrast : Hues may vary but all colors must have significant contrast of saturation.

Value Similarities: Hues may vary in this strategy, but all colors have the same or very close values. Value Contrast: Black (or dark desaturated hues) contrast with white.

Complementary Dyad creates a strong hue contrast. Complementary hues are located directly opposite each other on the color circle.

Split Complementary strategies are based on two complements. To create a split complementary color strategy select one hue and contrast it with the hues on either side of its complement, such as Red & YellowGreen/BlueGreen.

A Tetrad strategy uses four equilateral hues from the color circle, such as Red, Orange, Green, Blue.

A Triad strategy uses three equilaterally balanced hues from the color circle, such as primary, secondary, or tertiary.