A random or accidental patterning of visual elements can only give evidence of the process that produces it. As visual designers interested in conveying ideas or information, expressing feelings or moods, and communicating intentions and attitudes, we need to be aware of the principles of perceptual organization, and skilled in the art of applying them.
Color Attributes
Thus any color perception has three characteristics, any one of which can be varied independently of the other two. In psychological usage, the correct term is attributes, because we are really describing sensations, not the object or the physical stimuli reaching the eye.
Hue- we identify as the basic color of the object.
Brightness- basic color of the object with adjectives of light or dark attached.
Saturation- basic color with adjectives like vivid red, or dull red.
Tints- are the result of the subtractive mixing of hue with white.
Shades- are the result of the subtractive mixing of a hue with black.
Tones- are the result of a subtractive mixing of a hue with black and white.
Value- indicates the degree of lightness or darkness of a color in relation to a neutral gray scale.
Chroma- indicates the degree of departure of a given hue form a neutral gray of the same value.
Develop an almost instinctive ability to discriminate and generate nuance (a subtle or slight degree of difference, as in color or tone) of response.
Achromatic- colors are those without the attributes of hue and chroma; in other words, the blacks, grays, and whites of the vertical scale at the center of the Munsell color solid.
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