Week 7 Page 3: Color by the Numbers

Using Numbers to Define Colors!

How do you describe a color? Is a name, like sky blue, sufficient to pinpoint a specific color? The answer clearly is NO!

Each individual has their own vision of what sky blue looks like and interestingly, so does each computer! Although there have been attempts at standardization, color is a huge variable when displayed on different devices, platforms and brands of computer, tablet or mobile phone. A color that looks great on your computer, looks different on some else's.

Color Calibration: The software companies have done their best to provide us with color management tools, monitor calibration and numbers/color models to describe all the possible colors but the bottom line is that monitor color calibration is not at the top of the general public's priority list! As a screen designer, you can probably assume that the color you pick for a design may not display in exactly the same way on each device.

Color Numbers: Screen colors are usually described by using a Hex code (the code usually used to describe colors in HTML coding, e.g. #990033) or RGB (the three numbers used to describe the combination of Red, Green and Blue pixels on a screen, e.g. 153,0,51). But even with the help of these numbers, the color is still dependent on the device displaying the color.

So what's to be done? Designers need to understand the theory behind color and how those colors (or their variants) can be combined safely together to make an attractive design in spite of the possible variations in color display.

So read on! The next pages discuss color theory and palettes.