It draws a person's attention. A sharp contrast in color draws a person's attention even more (McCain, 1992). Contrast in color depends on the three factors of hue, which is another way to say color; value, which is the lightness or darkness of a color; and saturation, which is the intensity or purity of a color. Apply these factors when creating graphic designs. Effectively using ways to contrast color in graphic design will result in an eye-catching page.

Hue is the name of the color&emdash;red, green or yellow, for example. Look at the contrast of the text in the first two examples to the right. Notice that your eye is drawn to the contrast of color (Williams, 1994). The text stands out. In the third example, the two lines of text are a slightly different color of blue. Notice that neither line of text stands out. Analyze the page you are creating and include contrast--or not--to create the desired effect. 

Value is the lightness or darkness of a color&emdash;a pale pink or a deep burgundy. The value is described as light, medium, or dark. The overall impression of a page can be affected by the combination of contrasting values. For example, a company's logo may use a medium value purple. If you want to combine other graphics with this logo and want the logo to stand out, use light colors around the medium value logo. The contrast of the two colors together determines which appears lighter and which appears darker (Penders, 1989). Lighter values seem light; darker values seem heavy. Use this in designing graphics for paper or for the web to create the desired impression.

A medium color appears lighter when placed next to a light color.
The same medium color placed near a dark color makes the medium
color seem darker. 

The saturation of a color describes how pure the color is. A color that is very pure is clear and bright. Adding black to the color causes it to become muddied and dark, giving it a shade. Adding white causes the color to become washed out, or tinted.

The purer the saturation the better the contrast. The color wheel in the middle is the purest color.

from Jeff Burton, A Little About Color,

For more information about color, see the following EET pages.

Choosing a Color Pallette

Chosing color schemes

Color and Mood

Principles of Using Color

Psychology of Color

Use of Color in Graphic Representations

Why use color?

Created by Hope Campbell