Color Theory Terminologies

Color theory is a very vast topic and has several terminologies and as a UI Designer, you have to stay informed with these terminologies. From primary colors to color harmony, we will discuss all the concepts that help designers make better decisions when choosing and combining colors in their work. Below are some of the Color Theory Terminologies in UI Design.

• Hue: Another name for a specific color also known as the dominant color of a color family. For example, Red, Yellow, Green, etc are called hues.
• Shade: It is a color mixed with only Black, making the color appear darker(contains no light). 
• Tint: It is a color mixed with only White, making the color appear whiter. Tint always makes the color appear lighter(not brighter).
• Tone: It is a color mixed with only Gray, making the color appear Grayer. So color appears to be neutral. Toned colors are more pleasing to the eye, subtle, and sets up a light mood.
• Intensity: Known as the purity of a hue, meaning when the color is not mixed with any tones or tints of other colors. Intensity determines the level of saturation of a color. Low-intensity colors are more on the neutral side such as pastel colors. These colors are neither on the cooler nor the warmer side. Whereas high-intensity colors are more eye catchy.
• Temperature: It is the permeability of the color/hue we are seeing. How cool or warm is a color? 
• Cool colors: Also known as Passive colors, formed by increasing Blue and Green tones in a hue. These evoke a feeling of soothingness, freshness, newness, winter, and calmness. As blue and greens are involved these colors are associated with snow, water, greens, and ice. 
• Warm colors: Also known as Active colors, formed by increasing Red or Yellow tones in a color. These colors evoke a feeling of passion, motion, warmth, and energy. Due to the presence of reds and yellows, these colors are associated with warmth, heat, sun, and fire.
• Luminosity: It’s a measure of the brightness or darkness of a hue. As per research, it is found that Yellow is the most luminous color, whereas blue is the least luminous. The saturation level of the colors also affects the luminosity. Highly saturated colors would tend to be more luminous as compared to least saturated colors.

Colors in a design set an appropriate tone and brand perception. It is often believed that choosing the right color palette is the designer’s aesthetic preferences and sense of beauty which have a major role in the selection of colors for UI screens. Colors are associated with many different emotions, cultures, and contexts and they make an impact on viewers’ moods and behavior. In this article, we’ll cover all about Color Theory for UI Design. 

Picking the right colors helps to increase conversion for your product as well as its usefulness. One can leverage the online tools available that help in generating amazing color palettes, rather than starting from scratch. As a designer, you can always tweak and make changes as per your need using those pre-defined pallets. To do this, one should have good knowledge of the concept of color psychology and color theory for UI Design.

Let’s get started!

Color theory in UI Design completely revolves around “The Color Wheel”, which is a base to start creating color palettes. 

To understand color harmony a little better, one needs to be aware of some terminologies. Most amazing color palettes have a proper balance of these terminologies, knowing them helps tweak and create more enhanced and balanced palettes.