Strong or Weak: A Color Saturation Guide

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learn how to manipulate it, control it.

From the depths of color theory lies saturation. One of the primary concepts is how it teaches people to add and deduct certain aspects of color to make it pretty.

See the True Colors of Saturation

It all started with Isaac Newton and his prism. He believed against the societal group think that color is a mixture of dark and light with red or blue. Red produces “most light,” and blue creates “most dark.”

And in the later years, Alfred Munsell, an American painter, created the color tree. Born on January 6, 1856, Munsell was a prodigy when it came to color.

He earned a scholarship in Academie Julien during his study at Massachusetts Normal Art School. His stay in Julien warranted him a price to study in Catherine de Medici for another year.

As his career progressed and flourished, he thought that a color system would be the best course to teach art and apply it in his work. Thus, the color saturation chart came to be.

Munsell’s Color System

His had three elements to it: hue, value, and chroma (saturation). Hue is identified as the purest form of color and found around value in the illustration.

Value is the horizontal line of the diagram. It shows the lightness and darkness of colors. Lastly, chroma, a portion protruding from the hue, determines the weakness and strength of a particular color. 

In Munsell’s Book of Color, he states, “…the best way to bring about a popular understanding was to illustrate the three dimensions of color graphically on a color sphere.”

Thus, he became one of the proponents of our modern color wheel today. But that’s not all we want to know. It’s how to maximize the technique for better graphic design for your business.

4 Ways to Richly Saturate Your Logo

When creating our brand design, we have to ask the question, “What Causes Color Saturation?”

The answer would guide us in the direction you want your brand identity to go. Remember that 93% of consumers consider the visuals and color of the products they buy before paying for them.

With that in mind, let’s get into the techniques you may use as you create your appealing graphics.

Learn the Saturation Way

Before you start to add color to your elements, you have to consider the method of controlling color intensity.

  • Gray is the Way: The color will seem unchanged when you add gray to the hue, the color will appear unaffected, but the value is more grayish.
  • White is the Way: The hue gets faintly cooler, and the temperature gets warmer. Also, the value gets lighter, which turns into a tint.
  • Black is the Way: The result would be a darker hue depending on which black you use. Thus, the shade comes to life.
  • Compliment Each Other: Hue and value shift towards the higher portion of color used. Blue and yellow, purple and orange, depending on the complementary color you use, the color would follow.
  • Try Low Saturation: Using the tiniest hue on your palette through painting or using the chart of mixed color, you can determine which one to use. But it’s unpredictable but fun to do.

Pick any of these combinations. Do them simultaneously or separately. Sooner or later, you’ll get the perfect color saturation formula just for your branding.

Incite Emotion

There may be a color theory, but there’s also color psychology. Learn what each shade of the color represents. Use that to your advantage. Which one do you want your market to feel about you?

Here are examples of colors you can use:

  • White: Cleanliness, simplicity, innocence, honesty.
  • Blue: Trust, peace, loyalty, competence.
  • Green: Healing, nature, freshness, quality.
  • Brown: Dependability, ruggedness, trustworthiness, simple.
  • Yellow: Creativity, happiness, warmth, cheer.
  • Orange: Bravery, confidence, sociability, success.
  • Purple: Royalty, luxury, spirituality, ambition
  • Pink: Compassion, sincerity, sophistication, being sweet.
  • Red: Excitement, love, energy, strength
  • Black: Dramatic, formality, sophistication, sincerity.

Hear Ye, Hear Ye!

Did we get your attention yet? Saturation is an excellent way for you to grasp the attention of your audience. It can direct the viewer’s eyes towards the focus of the graphic.

Add intensity to the color in the middle of your logo. Or perhaps on the streaming line in your banner or post. Either way, you grab the attention of your market.

An example would be Shell. At first, they used negative space, which turned into technicolor. Notice how one shell has a lighter yellow than the rest? That’s a method of using saturation.

Set the Atmosphere

Focus on intensifying your background colors. Would it be white to aid in giving your logo a more clean look?

Or perhaps the elements are what you want your audience to look at instead of the middle? Tamper with the temperature of the design.

If you want a relaxed vibe, go with dark colors, or maybe a homey feeling, go with lighter colors. It all depends on how you want your market to perceive you.

You Are Now In Control of Your Identity!

As a startup, it’s hard to think of a unique way to stand out amongst the competition, but that’s why you need to learn saturation.

It’s a remarkable tool to aid you in your pursuit of the perfect brand identity. After all, there’s no such thing as one size fits all. You need to look for your way and stand your ground with your design in the overall platform.

And it’s hard sometimes to come up with an original design by yourself. And that’s why we’re here! BrandCrowd wants you to become the best version of your business.

Let us ease the process of designing with four easy steps. Pick a template you want from our database. Revise it the way you want. Save it after doing another round of revisions.

And voila!

You are now ready to present your logo to the world.

Learn how to use our tools here.

Good luck, startup! We’re rooting for you.

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