- I'm going to open up an illustration here
in just a minute, then I'm going to color it poorly.
And what I'm going to do is point out how the palette fails,
then I'm going to show how I will fix it.
After that, I'm going to do it again.
Another poor application of color, and another fix.
And then one more time after that.
Three very different and very common color problems,
and three different solutions.
And hopefully these demonstrations will
put some useful ideas in your head
for the next time you come across
similar color-related issues.
So, here we go, my illustration
and a poor application of color.
Now, to be honest, it's not like
this is a complete disaster.
It's pretty nice colors really.
But still, I do see a problem.
It's subtle, but since we're professionals here,
or soon-to-be professionals,
we're all about fixing problems, right?
No matter how subtle, or how obvious.
It's the teal and the orange.
They're about the same value.
So, wherever they touch, they tend to blend a little bit.
And since they're complementary colors,
they also tend to set off a kind of visual vibration
wherever they meet, and that's bad stuff.
The fix is simple.
Just make one color notably darker
or lighter than the other, like this, or this.
Take your pick, but do pick,
because good color schemes can not be built
around weak value structures.
OK, I'll wipe away this palette and start over
with a fresh set of poorly considered colors.
Now this time, the problem is way more serious.
Pretty much all the colors here are about the same value.
And obviously, that's not a good thing,
but let's just say for whatever reason,
we're stuck with these colors.
Maybe it's because you have a client
who thinks they're an art director,
and they pick the colors, who knows.
So, is there any hope?
Well, yeah, it's called line work.
If value differences aren't going to make
this illustration look good, which is what value differences
are supposed to do, then we might need to add some line work
to make the boundaries really clear between all the colors,
and also to visually define the image's content.
There are all different kinds
of line work options to consider.
Another thing you could do is take an illustration like this
into Photoshop, and airbrush some subtle hints of shading
between the colors in strategic places, like so.
So here's before, and after.
These are small fixes, but they're a really big help.
All right, moving on and back to Adobe Illustrator.
Let's hit reset, apply some more poorly chosen colors,
and again actually these colors aren't all that bad.
There's a good value structure going on here,
nice range of bright and muted hues,
so what's the problem?
Well, here's what I see,
OK, the bright orange-yellow inside our central globe
is meant to be its accent color.
Now I'd say it's doing a good job
especially since it's surrounded by darker
and more muted hues.
My only problem with this thing is that
this accent color, it's used too much.
It's used too much in other places, I mean.
It's nice how three other planets connect with
the central globe here by sharing this color,
but, in this case, I happen to want my earthly globe
getting all the attention it can, which isn't happening
since my attention-grabbing yellow is spread around here,
here and here.
Easy fix, I'll just mute this yellow a bit
everywhere it appears except within the globe.
That's way better.
Now there's a nice echo going on between the globe
and its outer space neighbors, but those neighbors
are no longer fighting with our home planet for attention.
Now the color issues we just looked at,
they can happen with more than just illustrations.
I often see these issues coming up in all kinds of design,
illustration, and fine arts projects.
So be on the lookout for them,
and consider applying fixes, like the ones
we just looked at, to make things right.