Using Color Effectively

• 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 12.2, for example, color adds emphasis to different kinds of information.

  Read more about designing your document in Ch. 11.

• 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 12.3 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.

  Read more about presentation graphics in Ch. 21.

• Use contrast effectively. The visibility of a color is a function of the background against which it appears (see Figure 12.4). 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 12.5.

  Figure 12.2 Color Used for Emphasis

  Source: From W. K. Purves, D. Sadava, G. H. Orians, and H. C. Heller, LIFE: THE SCIENCE OF BIOLOGY, Seventh Edition, Page 560. Copyright 2004. Reprinted by permission of Sinauer Associates, Inc.

  Source: Bonneville, 2009: bpa.gov/Finance/FinancialInformation/AnnualReports/Documents/AR2009.pdf

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

  Color used to emphasize one item among others.

  

  Read more about cultural patterns in Ch. 5

• 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 12.6) illustrates these principles.) Keep in mind, however, that people in different cultures interpret colors differently.
  

  Figure 12.3 Color Used To Establish Patterns

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

  

  Figure 12.4 The Effect of Background in Creating Contrast

  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.

  

  a. Insufficient contrast

  Figure 12.5 Effective Contrast Used in a Presentation Slide

  b. Effective contrast

  The batteries are red. The warm red contrasts effectively with the cool green of the car body.

  

  Figure 12.6 Colors Have Clear Associations for Readers
• Be aware that color can obscure or swallow up text.

  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.