8: Creating Graphics

Using Color Effectively

Color draws attention to information you want to emphasize, establishes visual patterns to promote understanding, and adds interest. But it is also easy to misuse. The following discussion is based on Jan V. White’s excellent text Color for the Electronic Age (1990).

In using color in graphics and page design, keep these six principles in mind:

Don’t overdo it. Readers can interpret only two or three colors at a time. Use colors for small items, such as portions of graphics and important words. And don’t use colors where black and white will work better.
Use color to emphasize particular items. People interpret color before they interpret shape, size, or placement on the page. Color effectively draws readers’ attention to a particular item or group of items on a page. In Figure 8.1, for example, color adds emphasis to different kinds of information.

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Figure 8.1: Figure 8.1 Color Used for Emphasis

Source: Bonneville, 2009: www.bpa.gov/FinancialInformation/Annual reports/Documents/AR2009.pdf

Source: From W. K. Purves, D. Sadava, G. H. Orians, and H. C. Heller, LIFE: THE SCIENCE OF BIOLOGY, Seventh Edition, Page 560.

Color used to set off a title and the totals row in a table.

Color used to emphasize one item among others

For more about designing your document, see Ch. 7.
Use color to create patterns. The principle of repetition—readers learn to recognize patterns—applies in graphics as well as in document design. In creating patterns, also consider shape. For instance, use red for safety comments but place them in octagons resembling a stop sign. This way, you give your readers two visual cues to help them recognize the pattern. Figure 8.2 shows the use of color to establish patterns. Color is also an effective way to emphasize design features such as text boxes, rules, screens, and headers and footers.

Figure 8.2: Figure 8.2 Color Used to Establish Patterns

For more about presentation graphics, see “Preparing the Presentation” in Ch. 15.
Use contrast effectively. The visibility of a color is a function of the background against which it appears (see Figure 8.3). The strongest contrasts are between black and white and between black and yellow. The need for effective contrast also applies to graphics used in presentations, as shown in Figure 8.4.

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Figure 8.3: Figure 8.3 The Effect of Background in Creating Contrast

a. Insufficient contrast

b. Effective contrast

Figure 8.4 Effective Contrast Used in a Presentation Slide

For more about cultural patterns, see “Communicating Across Cultures” in Ch. 4.
Take advantage of any symbolic meanings colors may already have. In American culture, for example, red signals danger, heat, or electricity; yellow signals caution; and orange signals warning. Using these warm colors in ways that depart from these familiar meanings could be confusing. The cooler colors—blues and greens—are more conservative and subtle. (Figure 8.5 illustrates these principles.) Keep in mind, however, that people in different cultures interpret colors differently.

Figure 8.5: Figure 8.5 Colors Have Clear Associations for Readers

Notice that a color washes out if the background color is too similar.

In graphic (a), the text is hard to read because of insufficient contrast. The greater contrast in graphic (b) makes the text easier to read.

The batteries are red. The warm red contrasts effectively with the cool green of the car body.
Be aware that color can obscure or swallow up text.

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If you are using print against a colored background, you might need to make the type a little bigger, because color makes text look smaller.

Text printed against a white background looks bigger than the same-size text printed against a colored background. White letters counteract this effect.