What Design School Taught Me, Part 1
FOCUS: COLOR THEORY
Let’s dive into what going to College for Design and Visual Communications (aka Graphic Design) really taught me. Actually…let’s rewind even further. Let’s go back to High School when I took EVERY art class offered because the entire concept of creativity excited and challenged me. Maybe we should go back even further throughout Grade School art classes or even look at when I was constantly using my creativity to entertain myself as a kid? Nah…I don’t think we really have to go back that far (you’re welcome for saving that hour of your life, haha). But for real, when I reflect on the actual act of creativity in my life, I find myself going back that far and noticing patterns or choices I made then, that in the moment or even a few years after, didn’t seem relevant or important. But as I look back 10-15 years now it is all starting to make sense. This path that I’m embarking on right now, pursuing all facets of design whether that be digital or interior-based, plus all the choices I have made thus far, just make sense!
Some people pick a career path because it makes sense or they thought it would fit their lifestyle. Quite frankly, I thought that was what I did when I decided to do Graphic Design. Little did I know, that decision wasn’t picked because it made sense at the time. It was picked because something in me knew that a design path was my TRUE passion. It was the fire inside me that lit me up and pushed me to keep going.
If you’re wondering how this pertains to me helping you create a beautiful space, I’m about to share! Over the course of my education, I was taught all the guidelines to aesthetically pleasing art. No matter what field of art you would choose to go with you were required (by the school) to take gen-ed art classes. These were the classes that taught me how to properly draw with the correct perspectives, angles, depth, shading, expressions etc. I had to partake in classes all about 3D visuals, fiber materials, digital illustration, web design, art history, typography, wood-working, pottery, painting, photography, and most importantly color theory. Color theory showed up in EVERY SINGLE class I took. Color theory + understanding perspective/balance are arguably the most important elements to design.
Color Theory definition according to Wikipedia: In the visual arts, color theory is a body of practical guidance to color mixing and the visual effects of a specific color combination. There are also definitions of colors based on the color wheel: primary color, secondary color, and tertiary color.
Alright, so let me ask you a few questions. Have you ever struggled to pick out a color to paint your room? Have you ever asked yourself if a piece of art or pillow would properly match your room style? Have you ever looked at a shelf you decorated and wondered if it looked balanced or aesthetically pleasing? Or have you ever ventured onto Instagram or Pinterest and found inspiration but didn’t understand why when you tried to recreate it, it didn’t work? If you answered yes to all of the above or even just one of the above, I am here to help you! These are areas of design that I can provide clarity in, inspiration for, and confidence towards.
I throw myself deep into the design world and am constantly flooding myself with streams of inspiration, trends, and new techniques to consider when designing. I do this so I can properly assist my clients when they feel lost with something in their space, whether that be picking paint colors or choosing decor. These are areas of design that can often feel overwhelming and ultimately make you freeze up or choose something you aren’t confident in. This is why I’d love to be that north star for you and help guide you in making decisions for your home that give you the excitement to keep going and make it beautiful and inviting.
So, how about we have a color theory coaching moment right now!? When thinking about colors most people know from grade school that there are three primary colors: RED, BLUE, YELLOW. If you mix two of those colors together you will then get a secondary color which consists of ORANGE, VIOLET, GREEN. One step farther than that would give you tertiary colors which are if you mix a primary color with a secondary color, for instance, if you mixed YELLOW (primary) with ORANGE (secondary) you would get YELLOW-ORANGE (tertiary). Of these colors that I listed above there are categories each falls into. Have you ever heard someone say “this color is warm” or “this color feels cool”? What they mean by that is what color family these aforementioned colors fall into. For example, Red, Orange, Yellow, Yellow-Orange all fall into a warm color family. Whereas, Blue, Violet, Green, and any tertiary colors in between fall into a cool color family.
To add one more layer to this basic knowledge of the color wheel and the color theory behind it, let’s talk about complementary colors or analogous colors. I’m sure you’ve heard of someone saying two colors are complimentary before. What they mean by that is, they live directly across from one another on the color wheel. An example of this would be green + red, blue + orange, yellow + purple. So even though these colors are nowhere near one another on the color wheel they are magical when paired together. There is something that just works when you use tones of them together. So when you’re worried two colors might be too wild to work together, refer to the color wheel to see how they would work! As for analogous colors, this just means that these colors are living next to one another on the color wheel. For example, Blue-Green, Green, Yellow-Green. So this could be another way to test if your colors would look good together.
Pictures from Pinterest: Left: Martha Stewart Right: Dwell Chic
Left shows red and green together which are complementary colors. I think this is a beautiful way to mix the two together in a space without it screaming Christmas. They used two muted tones. Whereas the right photo shows green paired with pink which works wonderfully together because pink stems from the red color family. This means they are still technically complementary colors.
Let’s put this into action! If you were aiming to achieve a calm serene atmosphere for your master bedroom you wouldn’t want to use too many HOT colors like red, bright yellow, or orange. These are energizing colors that boost your mood or inflict exciting emotions. You would instead look towards what nature provides us...calm muted tones that live in places like forests or beaches. These are places you should turn to when deciding on color palettes for your space. A beach is known for being serene and calming so look at what’s being used there. There are muted tan/natural tones (like sand), there are the blue/green shades (from water + sky) and there aren’t a lot of high contrast/dark tones, instead a lot more white and airy tones. If you answered yes to the question above about not knowing what pillows or art to pair here, I would suggest subtle patterns that have those cool colors listed above in them, and the art could be a nature scene like the one you’re visualizing/something that pulls those colors together. It might be tempting to add in a bright red sunset beach picture, but even though it has a beach in it, it would most likely throw off the room’s serene vibe because of the harsh colors it has. Red + Blue are not complementary or analogous. Different shades of them may work, but to play it safer you would want to pick up a subtle light orange-toned sunset picture instead or stick with other analogous colors like blue-green or blue-violet for the piece of art.
Pictures from Pinterest: Left: from VieMagazine Middle: Etsy Ad Right: McGee and Co
I hope learning more about color theory helps you when you’re deciding what route you’d like to go for your space, but if you feel overwhelmed and still a bit confused message me through my “What I Offer” website page, and let’s get to discussing how I can help you! Side note: you don't have to have one of the design packages I list picked out. We could chat and create a special package just for you!
Leave me a comment if you learned something from this post (what was it?) or if you’re reflecting on what colors are being used in your space now! Feel free to ask me questions in the comments too if you’re curious about some colors in your space or how to figure out what colors you like!
