Draw two grids of squares, filling one with colours you like and others with colour you dislike. Then put the two groups side by side and ask the question, ‘which one looks better?’
Next try experimenting with placing colours together as Johannes Itten did. Try and find different combinations of colours to illustrate the list of ideas (Graphic Design One: Page 69.)
Given the almost infinite variety of colours I wasn’t quite sure how to start approaching this exercise. For the two grids I started by using Adobe Draw as it is really easy to add blocks of colour; working fairly randomly I selected colours and filled the grids.
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- Dislike 1 (Draw)
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- Dislike 2 (Draw)
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- Like 1 (Draw)
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- Like 2 (Draw)
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- Like
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- Dislike
I then remembered I had a set of Pantone based postcards so spread them out in different combinations and took photos. Although the course text suggests most people find they prefer the colours they don’t ordinarily like because of the colour dynamics I confess with the drawn set I still preferred the bright and gawdy versions! With the printed versions however I agree that the more muted colours look better in relationship to one another.
I then went on to use the Pantone cards for the colour combination exercise. I spread them out so I could see all the colours and created a grid of all the terms. The Postcards are not accurate Pantone samples so I knew there would be some colour variation when I moved onto digital versions but it felt like a more manageable way to attempt the exercise. I probably made a bit of a meal of the task but it got me to the end point I needed. I went through several steps:
- As I worked through each word I made a note of the Pantone number
- Using the Pantone website I looked up a Hex number for each colour
- I set up two artboards in Illustrator and added the squares which are effectively three squares layered (there was probably a more effective way of doing this using outline but I wasn’t sure how to do it)
- I started adding the colour initially a square at a time and then realised I could highlight the outer and inner square and fill them at the same time! (it all helps with my Illustrator learning)
- As I went I made notes on my sheet about any changes I made
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- Colour Dynamics 1
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- Colour dynamics 2
Given that I knew the Pantone postcards were not true colour representations I had expected to make some changes, and when I did these were mainly based on seeing the outcome of the two colours interacting. I also noticed that I have a tendency towards warmer, brighter colours and would seldom choose browns or greens. The colour squares can be downloaded here as a PDF.
