Back in the 90′s I took some design classes at the local college and learned about color and got my first formal introduction to a color wheel. It was a fascinating class and I learned a lot of techniques that I still use today in many of my projects. Fast forward a few years and now I find myself buying entire paint wheels from the local paint stores to get a wider variety of color matching, coordinating and contrasting. I find color charts and wheels to be a useful tool while crafting as well.
You might wonder how a color wheel or paint chip collection really plays a role in my craft projects… well, lets look at how I use it when putting together a scrapbook page. When I am designing a page there are often areas on the page (even if I am using a sketch) that I want to draw attention to. By coordinating colors and using color contrast I can highlight or accent those areas. At the same time, I can draw attention away from areas that might be less than perfect (dare I say, a mistake – gasp).
A scrapbook page will turn out looking garish, mismatched or unattractive if my colors are not chosen correctly.
Here are some basic rules that I use when putting together my pages. I take a look at my photos and everything else that I am planning to use on the scrapbook page. I choose a background color that meets one of the three criteria. My background must either match, coordinate with or be in contrast to the items I plan to use on the particular scrapbook page.
When I choose to match the background color to my items it will add to the continuity of my color scheme. If I choose to coordinate the background color, depth is added to the scrapbook page. But when I choose a contrasting background color I am able to create a focus point for the eyes to hone in on. So I can manipulate and combine color to achieve the effect that I want on any scrapbook page or even within a scrapbook page.
