Graphic Design: Color Selection

By: Prada Azzahra

In the digital era, which is growing rapidly, the field of graphic design is also growing. With this bright career prospects, many people are interested in honing their design skills. Either learning graphic design through formal education, training, or by being self-taught. To become a graphic designer, creativity is one of the skills that graphic designers need to have. Not only do graphic designers require creativity, but it is also one of the soft skills that recruiters will be looking for in 2025. Therefore, creativity skills really need to be learned, honed, and developed.
In terms of making a graphic design work, graphic designers must be able to mix and match fonts, elements, colors, and so on to create designs with beautiful results. In this case, creativity is needed to mix and match. However, a vital part of a graphic design is its color. Before designing, color selection is very important to make graphic design more beautiful. Color can imply and convey the meaning or message and psychology of a design, such as in a brand's logo; aside from that, it is useful for attracting the audience's attention. Here, color in graphic design becomes the main key when creating a graphic design work as it creates a comfortable impression for the audience.
In practice, the choice of colors in a graphic design work cannot be arbitrary. That is, colors need to be arranged appropriately, namely by using a color palette. Before that, it is necessary to pay attention to the primary color, secondary color, and tertiary color. Primary color is the basic color or primary color used in the background of a graphic design work; secondary color is the second color used for the font of a graphic design work; and tertiary color is the color used for ornaments in a graphic design work. The use of color usually consists of 3–5 colors, with the condition that the three must be contrasting. This means that the use of primary colors, secondary colors, and tertiary colors must be contrasted, especially for secondary and tertiary colors, namely with a percentage of primary color as much as 60%, secondary color as much as 30%, and tertiary color as much as 10%. The main key in selecting primary, secondary, and tertiary colors is that if the primary color (background color) is dark, then use the secondary color (font color) and light color tertiary (ornamental color). However, if you use a light primary color (background color), then use a dark secondary color (font color) and a dark tertiary color (ornamental color).
In terms of color psychology, the following colors can be used in making a graphic design work:
Red: courage, strength, and joy
Blue: Harmony, tranquility, and peace
Yellow: warmth, optimism, enthusiasm, cheerfulness, and enthusiasm
Green: Relaxation and serenity
Orange: warmth, hope, adventure, optimism, and confidence
Black: Elegance, mystery, dominance, and strength
White: Peace and holiness
Chocolate: A sense of security and sturdiness
Purple: Elegance, wisdom, and happiness in life
Pink: gentleness, caring, and romance.

For the ideal color selection, these 4 methods can be used, namely:
Adapting to the design concept
Ideal color adjustment based on target audience
Selecting all colors
Trying to consider Brewster's theory (grouping primary colors, secondary colors, tertiary colors, and neutral colors).

References

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Pengertian Warna dalam Desain Dan Teori Warna para Ahli. (2020, May 7). Kiedayat. https://www.kiedayat.com/2020/05/pengertian-warna-dalam-desain-dan-teori.html?m=1.
Tokogulali. (2019, October 13). Metode pemilihan warna untuk desain grafis. Kuliah Desain. https://www.google.com/amp/s/kuliahdesain.com/metode-pemilihan-warna-untuk-desain-grafis/%3Famp%3D1.