Colour Harmony
Stephen Westland, Kevin Laycock, Vien Cheung, Phil Henry and Forough Mahyar
School of Design, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
Summary
The search for the rules of colour harmony has occupied the thoughts of some of the greatest artists and scientists. In this article, the main theories of colour harmony are considered and, in so doing, the question of whether there are any fundamental laws of colour harmony is addressed. Several colour issues are considered to be important to an understanding of the development of ideas in colour harmony, such as the circular nature of hue, the nature of colour primaries, and the concept of complementary colours. The prevalent view in the literature is revealed to be that it is impossible to separate the issue of colour harmony from the context of art and design. Thus, what is considered harmonious is to a large extent subject to fashion, personal preference and other cultural influences.
Main Sections
- Introduction
- Newtonian Ideas
- Complementary Colours and Primaries
- Colour Wheels
- Colour Harmony Theory
- Contemporary Colour Harmony
- Discussion
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Citation
Stephen Westland, Kevin Laycock, Vien Cheung, Phil Henry and Forough Mahyar (2007). Colour Harmony. Colour: Design & Creativity 1 (1) 1: 1-15.
URL: http://www.colour-journal.org/2007/1/1/
