Signs and color contrast

We at Ideal Sings will explore the meaning of color and how to differentiate color in information layers. The contrast between the foreground and background is one of the most important factors for the ease of reading.

Color contrast

We at Ideal Sings will explore the meaning of color and how to differentiate color in information layers.

The contrast between the foreground and background is one of the most important factors for the ease of reading. If colored text is used on a bright background the contrast will be weak, for optimal contrast results is white text against dark-colored backgrounds. In signage & wayfinding design color is the combining factor to harmonize the sign with the environment. Color programs will distinguish signs from each other and can offer an indication of the message without having to be able to understand the language of the sign.

Basics of color groups: Color wheel

Swiss painter and designer Johannes Itten created a color wheel that is an organization of 12 color hues around in a circle showing relationships between the colors. The colors are presented in the following way:

• Primary colors: Blue, red & yellow
• Secondary colors: Green, orange & violet
• Complementary colors: Red-orange, red-violet, yellow-orange, yellow-green, blue-violet & blue-green.

“Goethe’s Theory of Colours provided the first systematic study of the physiological effects of color (1810). His observations on the effect of opposed colors led him to a symmetric arrangement of his color wheel, “for the colors diametrically opposed to each other… are those which reciprocally evoke each other in the eye.” (Goethe, Theory of Colours, 1810)”
Wikipedia

A Color Wheel is an abstract illustrative organization of color hues around a circle that shows relationships between primary colors, secondary colors, and complementary colors. Knowing the relationship between colors is the first step in developing a color scheme for signage and wayfinding systems.