The basic color wheel is a collection of 12 colors which include: three primary, three
secondary, and six tertiary colors.
In design, selecting color schemes for your project can sometimes be challenging.
Learning the basics of the color wheel and how colors relate to one another will help
you create color schemes that both make sense and are pleasing to the eye.
PRIMARY COLORS: Red, Yellow, and Blue
These three primary colors are the foundation of the color wheel. Their true color pigments
cannot be created by mixing any other combination of colors. All other colors in the color wheel
are derived from these three color hues.
SECONDARY COLORS: Violet, Orange, and Green
These secondary color hues are created by mixing equal parts of two primary colors together.
Red + Blue = Violet
Red + Yellow = Orange
Blue + Yellow = Green
TERTIARY COLORS: Blue-Violet, Red-Violet, Red-Orange, Yellow-Orange, Yellow-
Green, and Blue-Green
In total, there are six tertiary colors. These tertiary color hues are created by mixing
equal parts of a primary and secondary color together.
Blue (primary) + Violet (secondary) = Blue-Violet
Red (primary) + Violet (secondary) = Red-Violet
Red (primary) + Orange (secondary) = Red-Orange
Yellow (primary) + Orange (secondary) = Yellow-Orange
Yellow (primary) + Green (secondary) = Yellow-Green
Blue (primary) + Green (secondary) = Blue-Green
COMPLEMENTARY COLORS:
Complementary colors are those that enhance each other. They are opposite colors and
are located directly across from one another on the color wheel. The color wheel
consists of six basic sets of complementary colors. The graphic above depicts four
examples of complementary colors. Using these color combinations give your projects
high contrast. When mixing complementary colors, you achieve a muddy, brownish-grey
color.
ANALOGOUS COLORS:
An analogous color scheme includes three neighboring colors. They are next to one
secondary, and six tertiary colors.
In design, selecting color schemes for your project can sometimes be challenging.
Learning the basics of the color wheel and how colors relate to one another will help
you create color schemes that both make sense and are pleasing to the eye.
PRIMARY COLORS: Red, Yellow, and Blue
These three primary colors are the foundation of the color wheel. Their true color pigments
cannot be created by mixing any other combination of colors. All other colors in the color wheel
are derived from these three color hues.
SECONDARY COLORS: Violet, Orange, and Green
These secondary color hues are created by mixing equal parts of two primary colors together.
Red + Blue = Violet
Red + Yellow = Orange
Blue + Yellow = Green
TERTIARY COLORS: Blue-Violet, Red-Violet, Red-Orange, Yellow-Orange, Yellow-
Green, and Blue-Green
In total, there are six tertiary colors. These tertiary color hues are created by mixing
equal parts of a primary and secondary color together.
Blue (primary) + Violet (secondary) = Blue-Violet
Red (primary) + Violet (secondary) = Red-Violet
Red (primary) + Orange (secondary) = Red-Orange
Yellow (primary) + Orange (secondary) = Yellow-Orange
Yellow (primary) + Green (secondary) = Yellow-Green
Blue (primary) + Green (secondary) = Blue-Green
COMPLEMENTARY COLORS:
Complementary colors are those that enhance each other. They are opposite colors and
are located directly across from one another on the color wheel. The color wheel
consists of six basic sets of complementary colors. The graphic above depicts four
examples of complementary colors. Using these color combinations give your projects
high contrast. When mixing complementary colors, you achieve a muddy, brownish-grey
color.
ANALOGOUS COLORS:
An analogous color scheme includes three neighboring colors. They are next to one
