A thorough understanding of color is vitally important for any graphic designer. While good instincts when it comes to color can are important, and can serve you well on their own, a solid understanding of color harmony, color psychology, and color trends can take your designs from good to great, and from appealing to effective. Here are five books to help you know your stuff.
Designer’s Color Manual: The Complete Guide to Color Theory and Application
by Tom Fraser and Adam Banks
The Designer’s Color Manual gives a thorough introduction to color theory, and particularly how it applies to design. Color theory is a huge subject, and this is a great place to start learning about it. A recommended read for any designer.
The Elements of Color: A Treatise on the Color System of Johannes Itten
by Johannes Itten
This is a classic book by one of the most important color theorists of the 20th century. A condensed version of his larger work, The Art of Color, this is a concise, and very readable, book covering all the most important aspects of color. Itten covers the seven types of contrast, how color affects or perception, color harmony, and much more. A must-read for any graphic designer or artist.
Pantone Guide to Communicating with Color
by Leatrice Eisman
This book by the Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute is a vividly laid out look at the practical use of color psychology. Along with an explanation of why the use of color is so important and powerful, the book explores the emotions and concepts that we associate with different colors, and has a useful index of sample color combinations that evoke certain feelings.
Color Psychology And Color Therapy: A Factual Study Of The Influence Of Color On Human Life
by Faber Birren
An in-depth look at how color affects us by a famous colorist. The full title of this book is actually Color Psychology and Color Therapy: A factual Study Of The Influence Of Color On Human Life. As you may have guessed from the snappy title, this book is pretty dry reading. That being said, it is extremely interesting and full of useful information for the practicing designer.
The Color Star
by Johannes Itten
OK… calling this a book is using the definition a little loosely, but this is so useful that we needed to include it here. The color star is a flat representation of Ittens color sphere (essentially a color wheel with tints and shades added), with a series of stencils that can be placed over top to reveal various color chords. This can be a great source of inspiration when looking for new color combinations.
