What is the difference between contrasting and complementary colours

The contrasting a. When paired together these colors make a bold, dramatic statement. For instance, if choose orange contrasted with purple plant more orange than purple or vice versa. You can soften the planting by filling in with a few of the color cousins like lavender and peach. Some of the most memorable gardens I have seen have been developed around a single color family. This is the basic color wheel and it will guide you in making color choices. Red, blue, and yellow are primary colors.

When you mix red and yellow, you get orange; mix blue and yellow, you get green; mix red and blue, you get violet. Orange, green and violet are hence called secondary colors. Tertiary colors like red-violet and blue-violet are derived by mixing a primary color with a secondary color.

All colors have tints and shades. A tint is the variation of that color when mixed with white; a shade is the variation of that color when mixed with black. According to color theory, harmonious color combinations use any two colors opposite each other on the color wheel, any three colors equally spaced around the color wheel forming a triangle, or any four colors forming a rectangle actually, two pairs of colors opposite each other.

Color schemes remain harmonious regardless of the rotation angle. Each has its own purpose to convey emotions. Warm colors exhibit energy and joy best for personal messages , while cool colors convey calmness and peace best for office use. The wheel itself can be divided easily to get an idea of which colors are warm and which ones arecool:.

Based on the wheel, there are a few basic rules to match colors. Complementary colors are any two colors opposite each other on the wheel. For example, blue and orange, or red and green. These create a high contrast, so use them when you want something to stand out. Ideally, use one color as background and the other as accents. Alternately, you can use tints and shades here; a lighter tint of blue contrasted against a darker orange, for example.

Split complementary colors use three colors. The scheme takes one color and matches it with the two colors adjacent to its complementary color.

For example, blue, yellow-orange and red-orange. Analogous colours are groups of three colours that are next to each other on the colour wheel, and a tertiary. Red , orange , and red - orange are examples. The term analogous refers to having analogy, or corresponding to something in particular. An analogous color scheme creates a rich, monochromatic look. Complementary is a color scheme using one base color and its complement , the color on the exact opposite side of the color wheel.

The base color is main and dominant, while the complementary color is used only as an accent. A combination of one warm and one cold color is always created. It's best used with either warm or cool colors , creating a look that has a certain temperature as well as proper color harmony. While this is true, the scheme also lacks contrast and is less vibrant than complementary schemes.

An achromatic color is a one that lacks hues such as white, grey and black, and a chromatic color is a color which has even the slightest amount of hue. Achromatic colors white, grey and black have lightness but no hue or saturation. They can be created by mixing complementary colors together. The phrase cool color is used to describe any color that is calm or soothing in nature.

Cool colors are not overpowering and tend to recede in space. Examples of cool colors include green, blue and violet think calming blue waters. The phrase warm color is used to describe any color that is vivid or bold in nature.

Warm colors are those that tend to advance in space and can be overwhelming. Examples of warm colors include red, yellow and orange think exciting fire and volcanoes. Contrast with cool colors. Aside from using color contrast tools to determine your site's colors, there are some other ways you can keep your site's contrast in mind: The larger the font and wider the stroke, the more legible it will be with lower contrast.

Therefore the contrast requirement for larger font is lower. W3C recommends starting at 18pt regular weight or 14pt bold text. Provide tools for users to adjust the foreground and background colors of your site on the front end. This is especially helpful for people that need to either switch to a low contrast or a high contrast mode. This gives them more control over the contrast ratio and covers everyone using your site regardless of what kind of vision loss or color deficiency they have.