Design for Screen - Colour scheme research

fig. 1

To figure out the colour palette for the app I researched (fig. 1) into a number of ways in which colour can be used to represent different messages and 'speak' to different types of audiences. As the target audience has creative knowledge and appreciation, the design of the app will need to be carefully considered as they will question all of the design decisions and understand the meanings of the colours. 

Ideas
As the app is about quick creative motivation, learning and inspiring the user it would be useful to research into the colours that are thought to represent these qualities as they may inspire a colour palette for the app. 
- colour theory 
- colour swatches from the creative websites
- colour trends, changing constantly
- motivational
- creative
- informative
- trustworthy
- different colours for each section

I started with some research into the psychology of colour and the different things that colours could portray or make some feel. I used figure 2 to pick out the colours that have a relevance to the purpose of the app, or the content within. 

The colours that would be suitable to accompany the black and white could be:
Blue
- Intelligence
Yellow
- Intellect
- Bright
Purple
- Ambition
Orange
- Success
Grey
- Intelligence
- Reliability

Fig. 2

The idea of using colour psychology within the app would be clever and appropriate but the audience may not understand the purpose of it. I want to try to explore other ways in which the colour palette could be decided upon for the app. 

Figure 3 shows a mood board of creative websites that would make u the content of the app, allowing me to take colour swatches of the common colours that appear as part of the website design and also as the artwork. 
The obvious decision was confirmed, white as the background and then black as the text. The other colours found have been swatched in figure 4 to see if there were any common colours that get used. There was a lot of reds/oranges used and also blues, very different colours but ones that could be explored to work within my app design. The slightly muted colours work better rather than the bright colours as they may look too harsh and uncomfortable on the eye if on a small phone screen. 

fig. 3

fig. 4

Fig. 5

By placing some of the colours alongside the black and white on a phone screen, it quickly became evident which colours were too dark, too light or not enough of a contrast to the black and white. An example of this is the colour palette with grey, the app would be too simple and would not engage the user to feel motivated to want to read it.

Feedback

I spoke to some peers about the concept of the app and some of the colour scheme ideas I had had to see which they thought could work and if any other ideas could be sparked. The initial suggestions were based on the colour red as it was thought that this was a colour mainly associated with the news. I then thought that because it was an app that was about creative news, something like pink or purple could be used instead.

I then started to think about how the app is intended mainly for the mornings laying in bed waking up, drinking a cup of coffee or commuting for the day, a bright colour may be harsh on the eyes that early on. This could be resolved by implementing the idea of sunrise and taking the colours from a sunrise to build up the colour palette. These colours would highlight the purpose of the app, whilst also improving user interaction as none of the colours would be too bright or bold for the eyes in the morning. The colour scheme will also work to set the user up for the day, reminding them that it is the morning and motivating them to get up, out and start their day positively. 

I gathered sunrise images of the UK so that I could take colour swatches from them and develop a colour palette from them. 

Fig. 6

Figure 6 shows the images I gathered and then took colour swatches of, I ordered the colour swatches so that the different colours were grouped together. I then moved on to arrange the colours into different colour groups as swatches to see what could work together and still be obvious that it is a sunrise. I start by having the black and white as the basic colours and then pairing together two other colours from the swatches to see what worked together to best represent the idea of a sunrise. Figure 7 shows some of the combinations that I made, but none of them stood out to me to represent the sunrise that I was hoping to. The pink and purple were the two colours I definitely wanted to include as I think they are the colours that differentiate a sunrise to a sunset, an important element as the app is more about how the user starts their day rather than ends (although either is fine). The way in which this could be resolved would be to expand the colour palette and include more colours to increase the chance of representing the sunrise more accurately. 

Fig. 7

I then added an orange into the palette (fig. 7) to help clarify that it is to represent an sunrise, which was successful in my opinion and also when speaking to my peers. the orange was more successful in ensuring that it looked like a sunrise in comparison to the addition of the blue. Looking at the palettes I do still think they need a little more adjusting to ensure that the vibrance of a sunrise is captured. Figure 8 shows the expansion of the number of colours in the colour palette and this is working to better represent the sunrise. I do not like the yellow as when referring back to the sunrise images, it is not a colour that particularly stands out as a main one in comparison to the rest of the image. 

Fig. 8

Fig. 9

Fig. 10

Once the name of 'creō' had been decided upon, the colour palette would work well to have a colour for each of the letters so that I could open up different design options and ways in which the app could be organised through colour. Figure 9 shows the first two experiments with colour, finalising the tones so that they work in the best way together. I started with a slightly muted/peachy orange as this was one of the swatches taken from the images. This worked, but I think the colour palette was lacking vibrance which in turn would also removed the motivational and inspirational purpose of the app. The solution to this was to increase the vibrance of the orange, picking a colour more suitable for the app. Figure 10 shows the finalised colour palette for the app.