For this experiment I have decided to look at the difference that colours have against red. If there is a high contrast of hue it means that a colour stands out, whereas a low contrast of hue is when a colour blends in more.
Yellow is close to red on the colour wheel, so therefore has a low contrast of hue.
When red is placed on red it doesn't really have any contrast of hue at all.
Red and green are complementary colours, so there is a high contrast of hue as they are opposite each other on the colour wheel.
Blue is in the middle of the colour wheel compared to red, so has a higher contrast of hue than warmer colours.
Violet seems to have a lower contrast of hue even though it is closer to blue on the colour wheel.
Black, grey and white are seen as neutral colours and don't have a high or low contrast of hue to red because they are not on the colour wheel, so just have a medium contrast of hue.
Complementary Colours
Complementary colours are those which are opposite to each other on the colour wheel such as violet/yellow, red/green and blue/orange. When complimentary colours are together they create achromatic colours, also called neutrals - which is a neutral and unsaturated colour.
I put two shades of violet objects on the yellow background, and the first one is a strong shade of violet which also makes the yellow appear saturated, whereas the violet on the second image is quite pale, and seems to make the background look desaturated too.
There is a violet tint to this, especially in the shadow.
There is a blue tint to this, which I think is more prominent in the shadow.
I then tried violet on a neutral background, and round the edges you can see a yellow tint.
I then tried putting different coloured objects on a red background. You can see a green tint around the edge here. Even though these are complimentary colours, I don't think that the green is painful to look at, as it is quite desaturated.
I think the whole object appears to have a yellow tint to it.
It is painful to look at the green object directly, as it is against red, its complementary colour. It is very vibrant, and the red is competing with it.
Contrast of Saturation
This experiment looks at how orange and pink appear on different coloured background in terms of saturation.
This is the orange object on a neutral background, which makes it easier to perceive the colour for what it is, without other colours making the saturation look different.
As blue is its complimentary colour, it has a high contrast of saturation, as it stands out against the blue.
On a red background the orange isn't as saturated as when it was on a blue background.
With the backgroud being the same colour, there is a low contrast of saturation as it blends in.
On orange it seems very desaturated and dull.
On green it seems saturated and bright, standing out against the green.
With pink on green, I find it almost painful to look at as it is close to red on the colour wheel, therefore is nearly opposite green on the colour wheel. I think it has a high contrast of saturation.
Compared with the previous image, the pink looks very dull and desaturated here.
There seems to be a higher contrast of saturation here as the pink is very bold.
There is a lower contrast of saturation here because the pink blends in with the red.
This is how the pink looks on a neutral backrgound.
The pink seems quite desaturated here, and almost violet against the blue background.
Contrast of Tone
Contrast of tone is formed by the juxtaposition of light and dark values. Colours have different tonal values, for example blue is the darkest tone, red is the midtone and yellow has the highest contrast. It is easier to see when a colours tones when it has a monochromatic value so you can visibly see the difference.
Black - darktone
Green - midtone
Pink - midtone
Red - midtone
Yellow - high contrast
Contrast of Temperature
You can get warm colours, and cool colours, and depending on what colours are together can create a high or low contrast of temperature.
Here are some cool coloured objects on a neutral background.
Here are some warm coloured objects on a neutral background.
As yellow is a warm colour, it stands out vividly against the blue background which is a cool colour, creating a high contrast of temperature.
As blue and green are next to each other on the colour wheel, they blend it together and have a low contrast of temperature.
Similar to the last image, the purple is subdued against the blue as they are next to each other on the colour wheel, creating a low contrast of temperature.
Pink has a higher contrast of temperature against blue.
I then tried the same objects on an orange background, a warm colour. There is a low contrast of temperature between these two colours as they are next to each other on the colour wheel, unlike the striking contrast when the yellow object was on the blue background.
There is a low contrast of temperature here.
There is a high contrast of temperature here, as they are nearly opposite each other in the colour wheel.
There is also a high contrast of temperature here as well.
Simultaneous Contrast
Formed when colours perceptually vibrate, and we perceive them different when next to other colours.
This is the orange object on a neutral background.
When the orange is on a blue background, the orange looks brighter than when on the neutral background.
When the orange is on the red background it appears to have a green tint.
When on orange, it looks a little desaturated as it blends in.
When on yellow, it has a violet tint.
When on green it is quite hard to look at and is saturated.
I then tried it with a pink object. It has a very violet tint to the object on the yellow background, as the yellow is battling for its complementary colour.
The pink object has a red tint to it.
The pink object looks more violet-blue here against the orange background.
I think the pink blends in a lot with the red background here and blends in.
The pink looks more violet against the blue background.
Here is the pink against a neutral background.
Contrast of ExtensionAlso known as contrast of proportion, it is about forming correct proportions based on visual weight. Red and green are complementary colours, and here is how they look when in relation to one another in different sizes.
When they are equally spread the design is too bold and is hard to look at.
However when they are proportioned so that one is significantly bigger than the other, they are easier to look at and look more in proportion.
When in blocks of equal sizes it still doeesn't look in proportion, so would probably look better with smaller stripes, amongst bigger ones.
When the stripes are thinner and more frequent, it is harder to look at and almost vibrates.
