Understanding colors

Question

Hello everyone,

Kindly point towards theory/material to read for understanding colors and what makes a good color combinations. Mind it that I am not interested in say "Color combinations for web application" etc. More of the lines of say "Colors and humans".

Material free to read is what i am looking for.

Thanks

Answer 1

See the Color Scheme Generator, Color Wizard, Color Combinations. They all have some theory or rationale.

Answer 2

Some theory here:

http://www.worqx.com/color/index.htm

Answer 3

Color and humans is a very complex topic. Scientists do not completely understand how we humans perceive color. (See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychophysics)

There are a lot good books out there but some free resources I use:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_vision

http://handprint.com/HP/WCL/wcolor.html

http://www.efg2.com/Lab/Library/Color/

http://www.cis.rit.edu/fairchild/

Answer 4

Information Visualization by Colin Ware:

Contains much more than just color theory. But it's a great academic resource for understanding some basics of human perception and how to make sure your designs work well.

Answer 5

Robin Williams' "The Non-designer's Design Book" is a must-read for anyone who needs to prepare material for publication (including software UI), and includes a chapter on colour:

http://www.amazon.com/Non-Designers-Design-Book-3rd-Designers/dp/0321534042/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233828208&sr=1-1