Color Theory / Color Schemes - Part 1 of Chapter 2 from Web Graphics for Non-Designers (4/6)

Analogous

Selecting colors adjacent to one another on the color wheel creates a scheme of analogous colors. For example, orange, red-orange, and yellow-orange would be an analogous scheme with a fiery influence. The swatches below are based around an analogous set of colors with supporting tones and neutrals. Applying the first swatch, for example, could see the white being used on the darkest orange as a highlight, or used as a background color for a content region.

Analogous Colors

Analogous swatches:

Example: bullseye.com.au

Screenshot:

bullseye.com.au

Bullseye, providers of Internet services, use a largely orange scheme that is a direct contrast to the blue used heavily by firms providing professional services to corporate clients.

Example: hillsmithestate.com

Screenshot:

hillsmithestate.com

Winery Hill Smith Estate has used a combination of heritage greens, accompanied by an analogous straw color that maintains the natural feel.

An analogous color scheme can provide a truly harmonious feel to a site with a balanced visual experience. Using one of the colors predominantly will establish a solid base for your site layout, while the partnering colors maintain the soothing appearance. Examples of analogous themes are readily present in nature, from the blue-greens of the ocean to the red-browns of natural timber. Such schemes are useful in presenting resource companies as solid and hardworking, or environmental organizations as earthy and resourceful.