Colour

To find out what colours might work together or might not work together you can use a colour wheel chart. The first colour wheel was designed by Sir Isaac Newton in 1666 however it was actually more of a pie chart because the bands of colour were dispersed in wedges around a circle. In the current colour wheel there are 12 colours and they are split up into three sections; primary, secondary and tertiary colours. The Primary colours include; red, yellow and blue. The secondary colours include; green, orange and purple. Tertiary colours are made when primary and secondary colours are mixed together; they are then named after both of the colours involved for example blue-green and yellow orange.

If a colour scheme is not harmonious it can look dull or chaotic however if the colour scheme is too monotonous then it can also look boring. Which will make the reader uninterested in the text or image, therefore colour is important when designing a magazine. You can use the colour wheel chart to create colour harmonies. Colour harmony is pleasing to the eye because the colours work well together which creates a sense of order a balance; this helps to capture the reader attention. There are seven different colour harmonies however the main two are; Complementary and Analogous. 

Complementary colours are colours that are opposite each other on the colour wheel, for example blue and orange.  When complementary colours are used it creates vibrancy, therefore complementary colour schemes needs to be managed to make sure that they are not too striking. Complementary colours are bad too use for text because they make it difficult to read so should only really be used to make something stand out. 

Analogous colours are three colours that are next to each other on the colour wheel, for example green, green-yellow and yellow. Therefore the colours work well together and create fluency.  Usually one of the colours is more dominant and has the most pigment. Analogous colour schemes are pleasing to the eye which makes the appropriate to use when creating an image. 

For a magazine to appear sophisticated it must have an appropriate colour scheme. Colour schemes play an important role in selling the magazine because the colour is what will capture the audiences attentions when looking at a magazine. Therefore when designing a magazine front cover, designers have to make sure that they use colours that work well together yet still stand out. The colour wheel is a useful tool for designers to use because it shows a range of colours that do and don't work well together. However colours also connote different ideas and atmospheres, so designers have to make sure that they use colours that promote the correct idea about the magazine. For example red is a colour that is often associated with danger and love. It is also very intense which creates attention. So if therefore good to use for mastheads, headlines and logos.

When designing my music magazine I will make sure that I use colours that work well together to make sure that my magazine is aesthetically pleasing. I will not use complementary colours for large sections of text because they are difficult to read, however I will use them for text that I want to make stand out.