are you using Color properly on your graphic designs I'm about to show you four key warning
signs that will help you answer those very questions starting with this now if your work
has this first warning sign it might be that certain colors may appear more dominant than
other colors which can be a really good thing when done correctly but here the issue is that
the dominant colors are used in totally the wrong ways now this warning sign is commonly known as
Four Color balance and it looks a little something like this consider designing the homepage for a
website showcasing the latest fashion collection for a brand poor color balance might arise if
the dominant color scheme overwhelms the page making it difficult for the users to focus on
specific elements such as product images or call to actions for example if the background color
is too bright or too saturated it may overshadow the product images or important navigation links
and this results in a disjointed and ineffective user experience remember the key importance of a
website is to get clicks and sales so obviously here that has been made more difficult with
poor color balance however poor color balance can actually extend across multiple different designs
and this is how that occurs now consider designing packaging for a line of skincare
products poor color balance could arise if the colors used us for each product are not balanced
in their distribution across the packaging design for example if one variant is presented with bold
attention grabbing colors while the other ones are depicted in more subdued tones it might create an
imbalance in visual emphasis and this might make the brand as a whole not function properly it
seems simple and logical right but many designers will actually not consider a balance of color
across multiple different designs in terms of saturation temperature and tone now if you're
creating designs that exhibit the next warning sign it can lead to your target audience being
totally turned off by your work and the designs message falling utterly flat you really don't
want that imagine designing a logo for a health and wellness brand that specializes in yoga and
meditation products think to yourself what sort of color scheme would you choose for such a brand
or logo some designers might opt for warm colors some perhaps even energetic color such as red and
orange to communicate a sense of well-being and change however this is probably almost certainly
contradictory to the Brand's message of relaxation and peace instead opting for cooler calming colors
like blue or green would be better because it aligns with the Brand's values and resonates with
the target audience but that is of course relative to each project and each different brief so the
warning sign here is inappropriate or inadequate use of color temperature on the flip side if
you're designing packaging for a children's toy brand incorrect color temperature could arise
if cool caling colors are used exclusively on the packaging design failing to capture the attention
and enthusiasm of the Brand's younger audience so make sure you know the vibe and also the emotion
and tone of your design and then from there work out what kind of temperature you need to apply
in terms of color palette is it warm or is it cold where is it in between it's really that simple but
also it's really that important but moving on does what I'm about to say sound familiar to you and
your graphic design career let's take for example a magazine layout design there can be a tendency
to get carried away sometimes and some designers would deploy things like random gradients spanning
the entire background or using bright yellow glowing text that isn't actually that legible
furthermore the colorful effects overpower the text and images making it difficult for readers
to focus on the content and follow the narrative flow of the magazine itself this is a classic case
of a designer who has gotten carried away with color use and color effects while forgetting the
function of the design itself and to remedy that simply remember this one small snippet of graphic
design wisdom color is merely a tool that helps complement the emotion the tone and the message
of a design color is very very rarely ever the star of the show and in fact it's just one Cog
in the machine mechanism of a graphic design color needs to be used wisely and the next
point in today's video is going to demonstrate that perfectly now there is one way to use color
that can make a design look utterly professional or if it's done incorrectly it can make a design
look really amateurish I'm pretty sure I know which type of design you'd rather create so
we're just here chilling on free pick and let's search for brochures just to demonstrate the next
color warning sign so if you look here this first design does not exhibit the color warning sign I'm
going to talk about soon but take a close look at this design and try and figure out what has
it done correctly in terms of color use what's really obvious about it also as another clue
this design isn't guilty of the color warning as well this design has done things correctly
now have you managed to figure out what I'm talking about here what is that warning sign
well if you take a look at this design here what do you now see to be different than the
other two designs well this design uses too many colors and the colors used aren't cohesively
consistent throughout the design using too many colors on the design is a Sure Fire
way to kill it and its use case and its worth by using too many colors like this especially
on typography it's just a visual overload for the audience and it makes the design appear
weak and amateurish using too many colors can also spill over to logo design as well however when it
comes to a logo design it's kind of a gray area excuse the pun now I do like this design and from
reading the brief I understand the logic of the colors but to me it makes the design look hectic
and just too busy it's less memorable than if it was a few colors in fact if you ask chat gbt why
it's a bad idea to use too many colors on a logo design it gives 10 strong reasons including memor
reproduction cost flexibility and so on now again the brief foest design here might justify the use
of many different colors but to me things seem a whole lot more memorable and efficient with just
one or two colors but hey I'm a purist and yes this design might work well for this brief but
as a general rule don't use too many colors on your designs and now let's quickly put any
confusion or lack of confidence to bed and see a step-by-step method for actually selecting colors
so let's say you are tasked with creating the artwork for a website based around
mental health awareness or even to design the website itself color analogies method requires
that we first pick out emotions to Target and for this website here the desired emotion is
empathy and support you will probably decide that the website should evoke feelings of Peace
comfort and hope for visitors seeking Mental Health Resources and information and once you
have that research we then look at how colors are typically associated with the emotions of
Peace comfort and hope and soon we are actually going to flip things on their head but in this
context warmer soft colors like soothing blues and gentle pastels are often linked to comfort
and understanding while shades of green can represent growth renewal and hope so begin by
selecting a base color in this case you might choose a soft comforting blue as it signifies
empathy and understanding then complement this with pastel Shades like light lavender or soft
pink to represent comfort and compassion now these colors can be used for background Elements which
creates a gentle and nurturing atmosphere to inject a sense of hope and growth add a touch
of light green or mint green as an accent color now this color can be used for call to actions or
to highlight important information symbolizing the potential for Renewal and positive change
however here's the complete flip side to all of this now you might actually have determined
in the brief that this audience of the website are young teenages in regard to mental health
and in which case you might want to increase the saturation away from parel colors and use
things like bright bald orange as a base color which will trigger a sense of action and change
which helps with positivity and hope share your design with colleagues clients or target
audience members to gather some feedback their perspectives can help you refine
enhance the color palette always keep in mind the accessibility of your design especially if
it's intended for digital platforms make sure the text remains legible and the color choices adhere
to accessibility standards but if you haven't got your feel of graphic design education today just
click that video on screen but until next time guys design your future today peace