How to Pair Colours: A Short Intro to Colour Theory
如何配色：色彩理論簡單介紹
Every great outfit needs a great colour palette, which is whybrushing upon your colour pairing skills should be at the top of your to-do list if you think you could use a little help in the colour department. The good news is that a big part of what makes one colour pairing better than another is down to simple technique and a few basic rules of aesthetics, i.e. things you can learn. This is where colour theory comes in. Colour theory encompasses lots and lots of differentdefinitions,concepts and design applications, but if all you want to do is get better at pairing colours you really only need to focus on two core ideas of the theory:
每一套漂亮的搭配都需要好的色彩展板，如果你在色彩方面需要幫助的話，溫習你的色彩搭配技能應該是首要需要做的。好消息是：為什么一種顏色比另一種顏色搭配的更好，這需要一些簡單的技術及基本的美學原理，這就是色彩理論。色彩理論包括很多不同的定義、概念和設計應用，但是如果你想做的只是提高色彩搭配水平，你只需要關注兩個核心理論：
Thecolour wheel, to understand the three main properties of colours and to help you identify differences and similarities between colours.
色彩輪，了解三原色，幫助你識別色彩之間的異同。
Colourharmony, i.e. the study about how to pair two or more colours based on a few differentformulas.
色彩調和，即，如何基于一些不同的formula去搭配兩個或多個顏色。
In this post I'll give you a quick intro to both of these and also show you lots of examples for how to use three of the most important colour formulas/rules to build outfits (monochromaticmɑn?kr?'m?t?k],complementaryandanalogous[?'n?l?ɡ?s]).?As usual, I want to put out my little disclaimer here that, just like many other concepts and techniques, you absolutely do not have to follow the rules of the theory to the letter in order to build great outfits. Use colour theory as a starting point to gather fresh ideas for colour combos and tweak your existing go-to looks, but don’t feel like you have to implement everything in this post.
在這個貼子里，我會給你一些簡單的介紹，向你展示一些例子：如何利用三個最重要的色彩formulas/rules來打造服裝顏色搭配（單色、互補色和近似色）。我照例聲明，就像很多其他的概念和技術，并不是必須遵守這樣的理論才能夠打造完美搭配，使用色彩理論只是作為搜集色彩只是和提升既有形象，但是不要認為你必須按照這個帖子中的內容來做。
Also note that this post is just about pairing colours for single outfits. Colour theory can of course also be super helpful for planning out yourwardrobe's colour palettebut since the parameters for a whole wardrobe are very different from those of a single outfit, I have covered that topic in a separatepost.20170712 如何為你的衣櫥選擇顏色調色板？（+36個樣板）
同時聲明這個帖子只是用于一套衣服的配色，當然色彩理論對于策劃你的衣櫥色彩展板是非常有用的，但是那些用于搭配整個衣櫥的參數與搭配一套衣服的參數是非常不同的，所以我在另一個貼子里另外說明。
defining colour // the colour wheel
定義色彩//色彩輪
First things first: To create great colour pairings you need to be able to assess the basic characteristics of each individual shade. It's not enough to identify your top as "blue" or even "dark blue". A "blue" top might look amazing or awful with apastelyellow shade, depending on whether it is a mutedperiwinkle, a bold royal blue or a supersaturated indigo. When it comes to colour, it's all about thesubtledifferences. And the easiest way to understand those differences is to spend a little time familiarising yourself with the colour wheel and the three basic properties that make up every single colour imaginable: hue,saturations?t??'re??nand brightness.
首先，做好的色彩搭配你需要能夠評估每種色彩的基本特性，如果你僅僅看出你的上衣是”藍色的“或”黑藍色“是不夠的，一件藍色上衣配黃色，可能看起來非常漂亮，也可能非常難看，取決于它是柔和的長春花色，還是寶藍色，或是飽和度很強的靛藍色。當，理解這些差異的最簡單方法就是花一些時間熟悉色彩輪和構成每個顏色的三個基本要素：色相，飽和度和明度
Hue色相
The hue of a colour refers to its exact spot on the 360 degree colour wheel, which is basically a logical representation of the entire colour spectrum, i.e. all shades that can be created by mixing the three primary colours.
顏色的色相是指在360度色彩輪上，它的確切位置，實際上這是整個有色光譜的邏輯展示，所有的顏色都能夠通過三原色合成。
Saturation飽和度
The saturation of a colour is how intense it is, compared to a black - white spectrum (the complete absence of a hue). At 0% saturation level any colour will look grey (or white or black, depending on its brightness level). At 100% the colour is as vivid and intense as that particular hue can be.
色彩的飽和度是指：相對于黑色-白色（完全沒有色彩），這種色彩的密度。如果一種顏色的飽和度為0%，它看起來非常的蒼白（或者白色，或黑色，取決于它的明度），如果飽和度為100%，那么這個顏色就是非常生動和強烈，就是一個典型的色相。
Brightness明度
Brightness refers to the relative lightness of a colour, from black (0% brightness) to white (100% brightness).
明度是指顏色的相對明亮程度，從黑色（明度為0）到白色（明度100%）
Exercise: Practice describing colours in detail
聯系：嘗試詳細地描述一種顏色
The interplay between these three properties is what gives a colour its unique tone. Even just a subtle shift in either of the three can make all the difference between a good and a bad colour match. Before you move on to the next section, make sure you fully understand the effect each of the properties has on the others. Practice identifying the colours of some of your clothes or even just of the objects around you. Don't worry, you don't need to be able to come up with the exact HEX code for every colour you see, it's fine if you can for example label the skirt you are wearing as "warm-toned red veering into orange, medium saturation, high level of brightness".?What's also important is that you can pinpoint the differences of two similar colours. If you own two pieces that both have a similar green colour for example, try identifying which of their properties are different and to what degree, i.e. "the green of item 2 is a little less saturated and has more yellow in it".
色彩三要素之間的相互作用給了顏色獨特的味道，這三個元素的微小調節就會改變整個色彩搭配的優劣。在你看下一節之前，確保你已經完全了解三個元素之間的相互作用。練習識別你的衣服或者你身邊的物體的顏色，不要擔心，你不需要給出你看到顏色的精確HEX數值，下面的表述就夠了：你的一件襯衫是”暖色調的紅偏橙色，中等飽和度，高明度”。同樣重要的是你可以指出兩種類似顏色的不同指出，如果你有兩件衣服，都是類似的綠色，可以找出它們哪些要素的不同，以及不同的程度，即“第二件的綠色，飽和度較低，并且摻有一點黃色”
colour harmony // 3 formulas for pairing colours
色彩和諧//配色的三個配方
Ok, now that we got the basics out of the way, we can get to the exciting part: combining single colours into palettes. A great way to improve your colour pairing skills is to play around with a few formulas (also called "colour rules”) for harmonious colour palettes that colour theorists (yes, that is a thing) have identified as universally appealing. The three I'll explain in this post are the monochromatic, the complementary and the analogues colour rule (more on those below). But first: let's take a moment to pinpoint what these formulas have in common, so you can use that knowledge to go out and build your own unique colour palettes,without the help of a formula.
現在，讓我們把基礎理論拋開，進入有趣的部分：把單個顏色放到色彩展板上。提升你配色技巧的一個好方法就是使用一些fomula（也叫做“色彩rules”）來做和諧的色彩展板，色彩專家認為人們普遍都能夠被這些色彩搭配所吸引。我將要解釋的三個方法是：單色、互補色和鄰近色（詳情如下）。但是首先，讓我花一點時間來說明這三個方法的共同之處，以便你能夠使用這些知識建立自己獨特的色彩展板，而不用。
The one universal feature of great colour pairings
良好的色彩搭配的一個通用特征
The thing that all colour rules have in common is that they help you create a palette that is both full of contrast but also very cohesive overall. Contrast is what gives a palette visual appeal, what makes it interesting. Cohesion is what makes it look like a "theme" of shades, rather than a random mix and also prevents the colours fromclashing. Both contrast and cohesion are created through varying the hue, saturation and brightness levels of each colour in the palette. But how do you create a palette that's both contrasting AND cohesive? You choose colours that are very different to each other in 2 (or sometimes only 1) of the three colour properties,?whether that is the hue, the saturation and/or the brightness level, but keep the other property almost constant for all colours in the palette. That one almost constant property is key because regardless of how bold or contrasting the other properties are across the colours, it is what gives the palette a cohesive overall feel. This mix of contrast+cohesion is the one thing all colour rules have in common and also the most important principle to keep in mind when you build your own colour palettes from scratch.
所有色彩rules有一個共同的特征就是它們能夠幫助你建立一個展板，上面的色彩即有差別（對比），但是整體又非常和諧。對比能夠讓展板看起來非常吸引人而且有趣。和諧能夠讓展板看起來像一個顏色的“主題”，而不是顏色隨機的混合，也能夠避免顏色不協調。“對比”和“和諧”（和而不同）可以通過改變色相，飽和度和敏感度來達成。但是如何建立一個既有對比又和諧的色板呢？你色板上所有的顏色應當是在色彩的三個元素中，其中兩個（有些時候是1個）元素不同，如色相，飽和度和.或明度，但是其他元素基本是一致的。那個幾乎一致的元素，能夠給整個色板一個“和諧”的感覺。而這種“對比”和“和諧”是所有的色彩RULE的共同點，也是你在從頭建立自己的色彩展板時應當記住的最重要的原則。
An example:The colour palette below does not follow any of the three colour rules that I'll describe in more detail later on exclusively. It's just a combination of four relatively warm spring-y shades. The difference between the two versions is the second shade: it's the exact same hue on both sides, but less saturated and also a touch lighter on the right. On the left, that shade looks - not horrible- but somewhat out of place, not quite right. The shade on the right matches the other colours in brightness and saturation and just because of that, because of a tiny move along the colour wheel, the whole palette is a lot more cohesive and, in my opinion, much nicer to look at.
例如：下面這個色彩展板并不符合我將要詳細說明的三個rules，這只是兩對四個相對暖色的組合。兩對組合的區別是第二個顏色，兩組顏色中的第二個顏色色相一致，但是第二組中的飽和度較低，亮度較高。左邊的這組看起來有點別扭，而右邊這組，由于所有顏色的明度和飽和度一致，所以整體顯得的更加和諧，在我看來也更好看。
What about neutrals? 什么是中性色
Black, white and all shades of grey are not technically colours, because they do not have a hue and therefore also no saturation level. That fact alone means that you can basically pair them with any other palette without destroying its overall cohesion. The one exception to this are palettes whose colours all share the same brightness level (but vary in terms of hue and/or saturation). Grey shades do have a brightness level, so make sure the one you choose matches the brightness of the rest of your palette.
黑色，白色和所有灰色，不是典型的顏色，因為它們沒有色相，因此也沒有飽和度。這意味著你可以將它們和所有其他顏色展板相配，卻不會破壞它的整體和諧度。一個例外是展板上的所有顏色都是一個明度（知識色相或飽和度有差異），灰色沒有明度，所以確保你選的顏色符合你調色板上其他的顏色。
Next, we'll look at some examples of how to create outfits using three common colour rules (monochromatic, complementary and analogous).
下面，我們看一些如何使用三個色彩rules來打造色彩搭配（單色，互補色和鄰近色）
Monochromatic colour palettes 單色展板
The colours of a monochromatic palette all share a single hue,?but vary in brightness and saturation. Although a single hue may sound a little restricting at first, you’d be surprised how many different colours you can create just by switching up the saturation and brightness levels. For example, thatmintybase hue in the palette above (RGB 0, 255, 216 at its brightest and most saturated) can not only be a bright, summery turquoise and a palemintbut also amuted slategreen and an almost neutral grey. And check out the 4 sample outfits below, they're far from boring, right? When building a monochromatic outfit remember that you can supplement your monochromatic shades with grey, black and white as well if you need more variety or something to balance out bolder colours.
單色展板的顏色中，色相值都是一樣的，但是明度和飽和度不同，雖然一個色相值聽起來有一些嚴格，但是你會驚訝于隨著飽和度和明度值的變化，你可以創造出那么多不同的顏色。例如，在上面的展板中基礎色相值是薄荷色（RGB 0, 255, 216 ，明度和飽和度最高），但是它不僅僅是一個明亮的，夏天的綠松石和灰白的薄荷色，而且還可以是柔和的藍綠和差不多中性灰。看看下面的四套衣服，一點都不枯燥對嗎？當做單色搭配時，如果你想更加有層次感或者加一些平衡，你還可以另外給單色搭配灰色、黑色和白色。
Complementary colour palettes 補色色彩展板
Complementary colour palettes are based on two different, complementary hues (that are roughly opposite to each other on the colour wheel). Shades of the same hue can have different brightness/saturation levels for extra variety. What is different about the complementary colour rule compared to the other two rules is that the one constant property (hue) is not the same acrossallcolours of the palette, only within the two groups of hues.In that sense, a complementary palette works essentially like two mini monochrome palettes, i.e. 2x different saturation/brightness levels of one hue.
補色色彩展板基于兩種不同的、互補的顏色（色相環上對立的顏色）。使用同樣色相、不同明度/飽和度可以創造層次感。補色色彩區別于其他兩種色彩rules之處在于，一個，如此來說，一個補色色板看起來就像兩個迷你單色色板，即一個色度不同明度和飽和度*2.
Classic complementary hue combinations are green/pink, blue/orange and yellow/purple, althoughcombosof hues that are not the exact opposite on the colour wheel (like yellow/turquoise) also count as complementary, as long as the contrast between the hues is obvious.?Also:?a complementary colour palette does not necessarily have to be bold or very colourful. The outfit in the bottom left image for example also has a complementary colour scheme with its mix of sand and light blue shades.
經典的補色色相組合是：綠色/粉色，藍色/橘色，黃色/紫色，雖然顏色組合并不一定正好是色相環上相對的顏色（例如黃色/松綠色），也可以算作補色，只要色彩對比很明顯。一個補色色板并不必須特別鮮艷，左下方的那副圖中，也是一個補色方案，因為是沙色和亮藍色的組合。
An alternative to the complementary formula is the triad colour rule, which works by pairing three opposing hues instead of just two (e.g. yellow, red and blue). I usually find three opposing hues too many for a single outfit, but I love it on other people (check outthis picturefor example).
補色的另一個替代方案是三色原則：是指采用三個相對的色相而不是兩個（例如黃色紅色和藍色），我經常發現三個相對的色相對于一套衣服而言有些多了，但是我覺得有些人穿上卻非常好看。
Analogous colour palettes 近似色彩展板
Analogous colour palettes consist of different, but neighbouring hues. The constant property can be either the saturation or the brightness level or both.For analogous palettes with hues that are not too far apart you can generally get away with being a little more lax about keeping your colours all the same saturation or brightness level and add one or two "outliers" to the mix (like the brighter yellow in the right picture below, or the deeper blue in the left picture).On the other hand, if you want to create an analogous palette based on relatively bold hues and without any neutrals to add some balance,?your palette will look much morecohesiveif all colours share almost the exact same level of saturation and/or brightness (like in the palette above or in the bottom right outfit).
近似色彩展板由不同的、但是相近的顏色組成。一致的色彩元素可以指飽和度或明度，或兩者兼有。對于和你的膚色接近的色板，如果所有顏色都是同樣的飽和度和明度的話，整體會顯得有些lax（松懈），這時應當加入1-2件“跳躍色”來中和一下（例如右邊照片中的亮黃色，或者左邊照片中的深藍色）。另一方面，如果你想用相對鮮艷的顏色來做近似色板，但是又不加入中性色來平衡的話，如果所有顏色都是類似的飽和度和/或明度（例如上面的色板或者圖右下方的搭配），整體會看起來非常密集cohesive。
colour resources 色彩資源
Adobe Kuler
Adobe's Kulerallows you to create, save and share your own colour palettes and experiment with all major colour rules. I could play with this for hours, it's hands-down my favourite colour tool.
COLOURLovers
COLOURLoversis a creative community where you can create and share colour palettes and patterns and explore those of others. If you're ever stuck for inspiration, check this out.
Color Hunter
A great way to find out the exact colours of any image, especially if you don't have Photoshop and can't use the colour picker tool. Simply upload your image andColor Hunterwill dissect it into individual shades for you.
"Intro to Color Theory: Color and Emotion" (Skillshare course)
This is a two-hourvideo courseaimed at designers, but I also found it super helpful for all things wardrobe building. Check it out if you want to learn more about color context and the emotions colours convey.
*image credits //Monochrome:Vogue.mx,Facehunter,Jou Jou Villeroy,Tuula Vintage. Complementary:Elizabeth and James AW 2012,Style Slicker, unknown. Analogous:Gary Pepper,Sincerely Jules,Kendie Everyday,Harpers Bazaar.
