History

Color theory is the practical guidance to color mixing and the visual effects of specific color combinations.

• Principles first appeared in the writings of Leone Battista Alberti (architect) in 1435.
• Color theory originally formed in terms of three primary colors: red, yellow, and blue. These were the colors believed to be capable of mixing all other colors.
• RYB primary colors became the foundation of 18th century color vision.
• Began to improve theory and understand purely psychological color effects such as contrast between complementary and opposing hues.
• In 19th century, decided that primary colors would be better captured with red, green and blue violet, leading to RGB.
• In the 20th century, the ranges of color were expanded through the creation of synthetic pigment allowing for improved saturation in color mixtures, leading color combinations cyan, yellow and magenta (CYN) and cyan, yellow, magenta, and black (CYMK).
• Color theory today uses three sets of primary colors in order to mix colors effectively.