Exploration of Colour

This week I decided to look further into how colours and colour schemes are used in the real world of design. I went over to HMV to check out some existing album covers, analyzing how colour is used within them, while seeking inspiration for my own album design. Once there I walked through the isles making note of every album cover that caught my eye. With this list in hand, I went home to look up the covers I wrote down. Taking a closer look into how colour schemes were used to create aesthetically pleasing, eye-catching designs, I discovered just how often the colour schemes we discussed in class were actually applied in the professional world of design.

Triad colour schemes consist of three colours that are an equal distance from each other on the colour wheel. The most common triad I noticed while looking through the CDs that caught my eye were the primary colours (red, green, and blue). When together, I find the primary colours to be very bold and eye-catching, which is why I believe album covers such as: “So Wrong, It’s Right” by All Time Low, “Back to Bedlam” by James Blunt, “Pillowface and His Airplane Chronicles” by Steve Aoki, and “Pearl Jam” by Pearl Jam, were able to catch my eye; however the use of various tints and shades, along with differing amounts of each colour relative to each other produced differing tones and effects in each piece.The album “The People or the Gun” by Anti-Flag used two of the three primary colours (red and yellow) to create a very bold, in your face, eye catching design.

“So Wrong, It’s Right” by All Time Low

“Back to Bedlam” by James Blunt

“Pillowface and His Airplane Chronicles” by Steve Aoki

"Pearl Jam” by Pearl Jam

“The People or the Gun” by Anti-Flag

Similar to triad colours, complementary colours often seem to be utilized in album covers. Being opposite from each other on the colour wheel, complementary colours create contrast between each other, allowing the piece to stand out to the viewer. Albums such as “In Our Bedroom After The War” by Stars, “Zombies! Vampires! Aliens! Dinosaurs!” by HelloGoodbye, and “EP” by Inward Eye, are just a few examples of albums that use complementary colours on their covers. The Metric album “Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?” creates colour contrast on several levels by using the complimentary colours blue and yellow in the background of the album, while placing a black and white image above this. While the yellow and blue are contrasting each other, the colourless black and white image creates contrasts between it and the colourful background.

“In Our Bedroom After The War” by Stars

“Zombies! Vampires! Aliens! Dinosaurs!” by HelloGoodbye

“EP” by Inward Eye

“Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?” by Metric

The albums “The Listening” by Lights, and “The Young Eyes EP” by Sara Lov use a type of colour scheme known as split-complementary. Similar to complementary colour schemes, split complementary drops one of the two complementary colours, and uses the colours adjacent to it instead. For example, the font on the Lights album is a yellow-orange colour, while the background is dark blue and various shades of purple. The Sara Lov album uses this colour technique as well, using hues of blue and green to contrast with the pink background.

“The Listening” by Lights

“The Young Eyes EP” by Sara Lov

Analogues colour combinations use three colours that are adjacent to each other on the colour wheel, and often tend to create very warm or cool tones. Colours such as red, yellow, and orange bring a very warm element into a work, while colours like blue, purple and green are cooler. “Love Drunk” by Boys Like Girls, “Appeal to Reason” by Rise Against, and “Waiter: You Vultures!” by Portugal The Man, are examples of albums that use warm analogues colours on their covers. While “Love Drunk” is exclusive to these colours, “Appeal to Reason” and “Waiter: You Vultures!” create contrast through the use of black, or small amounts of complementary colours.

“Love Drunk” by Boys Like Girls

“Appeal to Reason” by Rise Against

“Waiter: You Vultures!” by Portugal The Man

Monochromatic was probably the most common type of colour scheme among the CDs that caught my eye. Monochromatic colours only use various tints and shades of one colour, and are often contrasted by black and/or white. I feel that the contrast created between monochromatic colours tends to be subtler than the contrast created in complementary or triadic colour schemes, however I don’t feel that this makes the design any less eye catching. I personally find monochromatic colour schemes very aesthetically appealing. Albums: “Old Crows/Young Cardinals” by Alexisonfire, “This Is What The Edge Of Your Seat Was Made For” by Bring Me The Horizon, “The Papercut Chronicles” by Gym Class Heros, “Diva” by Sarah Brightman, and “Life Starts Now” by Three Days Grace, all use monochromatic colour schemes on their album covers in what I feel to be very visually pleasing ways.

“Old Crows/Young Cardinals” by Alexisonfire

“This Is What The Edge Of Your Seat Was Made For” by Bring Me The Horizon

“The Papercut Chronicles” by Gym Class Heros

“Diva” by Sarah Brightman

Sometimes colours were not present at all, and black and white images and fonts were used instead, creating vivid contrast between the two shades. “The Sound of Maddness” by Shinedown, and “Fino Bleed” by Die Mannequin, are two examples of albums with black and white covers.

“The Sound of Maddness” by Shinedow

“Fino Bleed” by Die Mannequin

Overall, I’ve discovered that there are many different ways that colours can be combined to create differing moods and effects in a design. The colour combinations that are used don’t exclusively determine the feel of a design, but rather a combination of the hues, value, intensity, and amount of one colour relative to the others all play a factor. Every design I analyzed was unique from each other, despite the fact that they were commonly grouped with albums that used the same types of colour schemes.

I sometimes found it difficult to classify which type of colour scheme an album cover belonged to, as every colour wheel I referred to seemed to differ from the last. Sometimes red’s complementary colour was green, while other times it was blue. This made it difficult for me to establish whether a complementary or split complementary colour scheme was being used, or hard to determine if a design was triadic. It was also sometimes tricky to tell if certain covers were using analogues or monochromatic colour schemes, as it was difficult to tell if various tints and shades, or a completely new hue was being used. I don’t think these details are extremely important however, as long as I have a general understanding of what colours look good together, and what effects different colour combinations have on a design when I’m designing my piece. I feel that finding the right colours for a design will come from a combination of this knowledge and some trial and error.

Crap Principles

This weeks Digital Media class taught us how to utilize contrast, repetition, alignment, and proximity successfully to produce aesthetically pleasing designs. Ever since leaving class on Tuesday, I’ve been observing the use of the CRAP principles within works of digital media that I come across. It didn’t take me very long to realize just how often these principles are actually used within the world of design

http://www.simplyfinedesign.com

The first good example of the CRAP principles I came across was this ad for “Simply Fine Design,” a web design company who clearly know what they’re doing. Contrast is created within this design through the use of colour and size. Because white is used as a backdrop to this piece, it is easy to create contrast between the images in the background and foreground. The black font that is used contrasts perfectly against the white background, while the orange and green within the font and the green within the apple contrast each other nicely. Various font sizes are used throughout the advertisement as well. The name of the company is much larger then the description of what the company does. This is because the company wants their name to stand out to the viewer, and also because the description is much longer than the title, and would clutter the poster if its font was too big. This variation in size catches the viewer’s eye, makes them focus on the company’s name, and keeps the piece from looking bland and boring.

The colours within this piece create repetition as well as contrast. The green colour of the apple can also be found within the ‘S’, ‘F’ and ‘i’ of the company’s title, as well as in the word “Design” at the top of the page. This repetition brings balance into the image, and encourages the viewer’s eye to move around the page.

The last two of the CRAP principles, proximity and alignment, are used to strategically space out the different elements of the poster, making the poster visually pleasing and not too cluttered. This is important not only because it keeps the overall image looking clean and tidy, but also because the company is called Simply Fine Design, emphasizing the importance of keeping a design simple, clean, and well organized.

http://www.ttthings.com

The next image I decided to analyze was a poster made for a design competition, which I feel has expertly utilized the CRAP principles. Contrast has been created within this image in a variety of interesting ways. The colours within each box have been carefully chosen so that they contrast with the colours that surround them. Alternating horizontal and vertical lines are also used, further contrasting each box from one another while creating a repetition in pattern. While both the bright colours, and alternating lines within the boxes allow each box to stand out against the other, the greatest contrast that is created in this piece is between the bright, colourful, and busy boxes, and the solid beige area at the top of the page. The dull, solid, light beige colour allows this area to stand out from the rest of the vivid poster, while creating contrast between it and the dark font that is placed upon it.

The font at the top of the page is tilted rather then horizontal to match the slant that the boxes are on. The placement of the font in this way makes the design more dynamic and interesting to look at, while the repetition of these angles throughout the poster encourage the viewer to move their eye around the page, and keep the poster looking neat and tidy. I believe that the beige section is placed at the top of the page because the busy, vivid boxes appear to be heavier then the beige area, making it natural to place the lighter, less dense section above them.

http://www.35mmdesign.com

The third image I chose to analyze was a poster made for what I presume to be a concert. Although this poster is monochromatic, contrast is created between the light and dark yellows being used. The two images within the poster contrast as well. While the top image of the skull is an outline, the image at the bottom of the page is a solid silhouette. Once again differing font sizes keep the design interesting and draw attention to the name being emphasized, while light yellow lines in the background of the poster, consistent font, and the mirrored title add repetition to the piece. The images and font within the poster are well spaced and organized, keeping the poster from looking too cluttered and busy, and making the overall image appear balanced and visually pleasing.

http://www.anna-om-line.com

The final image I chose to observe came from Anna-Om-Line, a website that showcases the digital media of artist Anna Lopez. The image I chose uses contrast, repetition, alignment, and placement successfully to create an aesthetically pleasing design. I feel that the most prominent contrast within the image is between the solid and vivid colours that are used, and the grayscale graded images. Contrast also exists between the realistic, organic images of the three people and the elephant, and the cartoonish, geometric images of the stars, hearts, and butterflies.

Colour and shape are used in a way that creates repetition within the piece. The same colours are use throughout the image and are always placed in the same order relative to one another. Repetition in shape can be found throughout the poster in the form of stars and circles.

The page has been organized in a way that has placed the majority of the grayscale images towards the bottom half of the page, while the colourful images remain above. There is a large amount of overlap of the gray and colourful images at the center of the page, however the most noticeable contrast is created by the black deer silhouette further up the page, and the red heart surrounded my the colorless face.

The postcard we created in the digital media lab this week can also be said to demonstrate the CRAP principles of design. Contrast is created between the dark night sky and the bright neon lights of the buildings, the “Welcome to Los Vegas” Sign, and the bright images placed at the top of the page. Repetition is created using the neon sign in the bottom right corner, keeping the neon look consistent throughout the postcard, while the alignment of the logo at the bottom right of the card successfully makes overall image more visually appealing. Finally, the placement of the neon “Welcome to Las Vegas” sign, and the bright images at the top of the postcard bring balance to the design, and encourage the eye to move around the page.

After analyzing the use of the CRAP principles within various works of digital media, I have found that these simple rules of design truly are applied to many successful works. I feel that the CRAP principles provide excellent guidelines for inexperienced designers such as myself, helping me to organize my work in aesthetically pleasing ways. Even though these guidelines provide excellent tips for creating successful images, I feel that a designer must also consider the messages and feelings they want their images to convey, and use their artistic license to achieve these. The artist should not solely rely on the CRAP principles, but rather should use them as general guidelines they can follow when designing a work of digital media.

Digital Media: Class One

Prior to attending my first BDC 192 lecture, I always imagined digital media to include any designs that were digitally created, however I never quite realized just how versatile digital media could be. I was particularly impressed by the unique example of digital media shown to us in class on Tuesday in which designs were created on the side of a high-rise building using some kind of light projector. This was a new and innovative form of digital media that I had never seen before and it really opened my eyes to the versatility of forms that digital media could take on.

During the class discussion about digital media I continued to be surprised by the vast amount of forms in which digital media could be found. Not only was digital media present in advertisements, animation, and websites, but it could also be found on t-shirts, billboards, album covers, and in video games just to name a few. I soon realized how immersed our culture is in digital media, and just how much it surrounds us in our everyday lives.

I feel that digital media is particularly important for a student of Radio and Television because it is such a crucial component to so many aspects of the industry. Advertisement is a key example of where digital media plays a crucial role. From billboards, poster designs and logos, to online ads and animation for a TV commercials digital media allows advertisements to take on countless forms and to be visually pleasing, which catches the viewers eye.

When McLuhan said: “The medium is the message,” he was making a statement about how it is not the content of a medium that is important, but rather the change that results from the way this content is put forth. This is an interesting perspective that I have never given thought to before. I’ll admit that I had never even heard of Marshall McLuhan before Tuesday’s class, and that when I first heard his statement: “The medium is the message,” I misinterpreted it to mean that the content of a message is determined by the way in which the message is put forth. After thinking about the statement from this perspective I decided that the medium was not solely the message because the content of a message could be communicated in many different ways, through many different mediums, and although the medium through which a message is communicated does influence the overall effect of the message, it does not determine the content of the message.

After looking more into what McLuhan meant by “The medium is the message,” I realized that he was looking at a much bigger picture then the one I initially saw. The content of a message is irrelevant to McLuhan’s statement because he was more concerned with the social impacts that resulted from the kind of media that was being used. To apply this to everyday life, it is not the messages that we are texting back and fourth to each other about how our days went or how cute a boy is that are important, but rather the fact that we as a society are communicating instantly with one another with such ease, and the way this technology has and will continue to impact our day to day lives. In this sense I feel that McLuhan was right in saying that “the medium is the message,” because overall, the way we communicate with one another has a much greater impact on society then the content within a medium.