MM 332:
Electronic Design
and Layout
Lectures/Color
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| Figure /ground relationships are basic
to all visual representation
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A figure is a subject
and a ground is the area that
surrounds it.
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How much the figure and ground
stand apart from each other is the measure of contrast.
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The more contrast, the higher the visibility.
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Light blue
text on white background is low visibility.
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| High contrast between text
and background is important when
designing material to be read.
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text presentations should offer at least 80% contrast
between figure and ground
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black on white is ideal but not always desireable
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lack of contrast causing squinting and eye fatigue
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Dark blue text on a black
background is also hard to read.
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| Simoultaneous contrast
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Green text on red background
tends to create visual vibrations that fatigue
the eye.
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The Color Wheel 
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Color wheels arrange color in a way
that allows us to see the relationships between primaries,
secondaries and even tertiary colors.
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A good color wheel also shows the range of gradations between
different hues.
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This color wheel also shows how colors can be divided into
passive, active and neutral zones
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Most often warm, saturated, light value hues are active
and advance visually
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Cool, low saturated, dark value hues are passive
and visually recede.
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Tints or hues
with a low saturation appear lighter than
shades or highly saturated
colors
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Some colors remain visually neutral or indifferent
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Advancing hues are most often thought
to have less visual weight than the receding
hue
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