Game Design 2Lecture 13: Colour

2013

http://gcugd2.com david.farrell@gcu.ac.uk

Half and Half

• Half on using colour in information design

• Half on what colour is and how to choose

Books

Tufte’s uses of colour

1. to label (colour as noun)

2. to measure (colour as quantity)

3. to represent / imitate reality (colour as representation)

4. to enliven or decorate (colour as beauty)

Colour in Games

• Team identification (label)

• Item highlighting (label)

• Mood, tone & aesthetics (enliven)

• Convey information (measure)

• Represent reality (representation)

To Label (team)

To label

To label

To Enliven

To Enliven / Represent

Label

Measurement

Information Design

• Games don’t do a great job of information design - but they use colour fairly well.

• Consider Tufte’s uses of colour in your designs.

Part 2

• Choosing colour

What is Colour?

Rods & Cones

• Rods & Cones

• Tuned to RGB

• Uneven distribution

• 64% red, 34% green, 2% blue

• Can distinguish red better than blue

• Yellow shades particularly similar

Magenta?

Colour Models

• Red, Green, Blue (Thissen 163)

• Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Key (Fox 52)

• Hue, Lightness, Saturation (Thissen 162)

Colour Wheel

• Newton Wheel

• Red, Yellow, Green

• Blended for hues

• add whites (tint)

• or black (shade)

Combining Colours

Color Jack

Text

http://www.bit.ly/colorjack

Tip: Industry Palettes• Find industry photograph

• Extract main colours

Tip: Mood Palettes

• Find mood photograph

• Extract main colours

DeGraeve Extractor

http://www.bit.ly/degraeve

Assembling a Palette

• Select 3 to 5 colours from colour wheel

• Also select a neutral and highlight colour

• Experiment with tint and shade

• Contrast is important

• Consider the colour blind

• Consider cultural implications

Colour Blind

• 1 in 12 people

• Resources exist which can model colour blindness.

• http://www.wearecolorblind.com

Cultural Minefield

Use Colour Sparingly

• It is easy to emphasise something on unobtrusive colours.

• On glaring colours it is difficult to emphasise something.

Tufte

“Above all, do no harm.”