The Use of Hues in Design

In the world of design there are a few key words and terms that help define how we see colors, think of colors, and use colors. Not every color has a name and if we created a name for every single different shade, tone, tint, or saturation of a color, we would run out of names. The closest we have to a name for these colors is the most basic of terms called the Hue.

The Hue is in all generality, the name of a color. It serves no purpose but to give a name to a color to give someone an idea of what it may look like. I could say that my walls are painted gray but, are they bright? Are they possibly darker than a normal gray? It doesn’t quite matter because the walls are gray in general. Using Hue can be an easy way of giving the most basic definition of a color. If we want to get a tiny bit more complicated we add adjectives such as light, dark, puke, bright, etc.

Even though we use these simple adjectives we could always just call it as it is. A few terms are defined to help us understand what a color really is and how to create colors based on a few key aspects. An important aspect is the saturation of a color. This is basically what dictates how intense the color is. The most intense red in the world could be blinding. Its almost as if we were to put the sun on a website or painting and show it to you. Its very bright and “loud” that could most certainly cause blindness or a few foul remarks.

Another way of giving color its special definition is the Value of a color. Adding value to a color is the same as adding the color black. Value makes the color darker and deeper. Similar to a brick red color it could also be considered a simple red with some value added to it. Value is a very important detail because it creates the ...

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...how to see color for what it really is and the truth behind chroma.

Works Cited

Chapman, C. (2010, January 28). Smashing Magazine. Color Theory for Designers, Part 1: The Meaning of Color. Retrieved February 20, 2014, from http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/01/28/color-theory-for-designers-part-1-the-meaning-of-color/

Chapman, C. (2010, February 2). Smashing Magazine. Color Theory For Designers, Part 2: Understanding Concepts And Terminology. Retrieved February 20, 2014, from http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/02/02/color-theory-for-designers-part-2-understanding-concepts-and-terminology/

Chapman, C. (2010, February 8). Smashing Magazine. Color Theory for Designer, Part 3: Creating Your Own Color Palettes. Retrieved February 20, 2014, from http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/02/08/color-theory-for-designer-part-3-creating-your-own-color-