One way advertisers and designers use color is in their text or lettering.  Advertisers want their customers to be able to clearly see their text or lettering, so it is important that there is contrast between the letters and the background of their advertisement.  Contrast can be achieved many different ways, but it is important that the contrast is not so intensified that it hurts the viewer’s eyes.  For this reason, complimentary colors do not make good choices for text and background.  Analogous colors are also poor choices because of their lack of contrast.  Often colors can be tinted or shaded to help increase or decrease the intensity of contrast.  Tint means to add white to a color, while shade means to add black to a color.  The following images are a good and bad example of text versus background.

Good Text/Background

Bad Text/Background

Colors are often used in advertising to invoke an emotional or psychological response from the viewer.  Red is used to quickly catch a customer’s attention.  It can be used to represent strength, passion, anger, or love.  Blue has the opposite effect and is used to sooth the viewer.  Blue can represent calmness, cool thinking, precision, or intellect.  Green is often associated with nature, while yellow often represents happiness.  Many of these emotional and psychological responses differ from culture to culture, so it is important that an advertiser researches what culture their product is targeted at.  Here is a sample video that discusses how color is used in advertising.

Modern color theory states that there are three primary colors: Red, Blue, and Yellow.  These primary colors can be mixed to create secondary colors: Orange, Green, and Violet.  Primary and secondary colors can then be mixed to create tertiary or intermediate colors: Red Orange, Red Violet, Blue Violet, Blue Green, Yellow Green, and Yellow Orange.  These colors can be grouped together on a color wheel such as the one below.

Two colors that are located directly across from each other on the color wheel are called complimentary colors.  Complimentary colors,  as opposites,  intensify each other.  Colors that are located adjacent to each other on the color wheel are called analogous.  Analogous colors blend to create a harmonious effect.

Colors can also be categorized into two groups: Warm and Cool.  Warm colors are colors that are associated with warmth and heat, such as yellow, orange, and red.  Cool colors are colors that are associated with coldness or tranquility such as blue, green, and violet.  Warm colors advance toward the viewer, while cool colors recede away into the background.