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The basics of the color wheel for presentation design (Part I)

September 28, 2015

Colors are just as important as the content of your presentation. The chosen colors will, if used right and consistently, help enhance your message. You need colors to create a theme that flows through your presentation. You want to utilize different colors for different content and help the audience follow your communication. Knowing the color theory basics and how PowerPoint handle colors will make it easier to use colors in your next presentation.

The basics of the color wheel

The color wheel was the first organized system of colors. It is still used to illustrate the relation between colors.

In traditional color theory, it all starts with three colors – the primary colors.

The PRIMARY COLORS on the color wheel are red, yellow and blue.

The SECONDARY COLORS are orange, violet and green. They can be made from mixing two primary colors.

The TERTIARY COLORS completes the color wheel to 12 basic colors. The 6 tertiary colors are created by mixing one primary color with an equal part adjacent, secondary color.

The colors on the color wheel can also be described by its tints , tones & shades depending on if you blend them with white, gray or black.

A color TINT is a hue blended with white.

A color TONE is a hue blended with gray.

A color SHADE is a hue blended with black.

Why is black or white not on the color wheel?

The simplified answer is that black is the complete absence of colors and white is the presence of all colors simultaneously. The full answer is more complicated – are black and white colors, are they generated by light or do they exist as pigments or as molecular coloring agents (read more here )? So we’ll stick with the simplified answer and conclude that white and black are not included in the color wheel.

What about brown?

Brown is a dark orange or neutral red hue a composite color made by combing red, black and yellow.

Read the other parts in our Colors for PowerPoint series:

View this post as a slide presentation:

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Color Theory for Presentations: How to Choose the Perfect Colors for Your Designs

Written by: Nayomi Chibana

Colors are all around us. Think about it. The bright blue in a clear morning sky makes us feel alive and free; the deep purples and reds in the flowers that bloom in Spring evoke emotions of warmth, life and energy; the pitch black sky at night, arouses thoughts of mystery and seduction.

Whether conscious of it or not, colors evoke a whole range of emotions in us that many times lead us to either enjoy a certain setting, feel drawn to a particular product or even reject a specific idea. They work at a subliminal, almost visceral level that we oftentimes take for granted.

Knowing this, it is imperative for anyone who strives to become a better visual communicator to familiarize themselves with the basics of color theory and how to choose the most effective color schemes for presentations, infographics and other visual content.

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To help you on your journey to becoming a DIY designer, we’ve compiled some useful tips for choosing harmonious and impactful color schemes that have the power to move your audiences to a specific action.

Color Theory Basics

Just like people are often judged by their physical appearance, so will your content be judged by the design elements used--many times even before it is read.

This is why it is so important to know what each color is actually saying to your audience. So let’s get down to some color theory basics.

The color wheel was the first model used to illustrate the relationship between different colors. The most basic of them are the primary colors, which are red, blue and yellow. They cannot be made from mixing any two colors and, as their name implies, they are the basis of all other colors.

The secondary colors are derived from combinations of the primary colors. They are violet, orange and green.

Lastly, the tertiary colors are created when you combine a primary color with a secondary color, resulting in one of the six following colors: red-orange, red-violet, blue-violet, blue-green, yellow-green and yellow-orange.

These 12 colors compose the complete color wheel:

Next, it is important to differentiate between tints, tones and shades. When a color is mixed with white, you create tints. These are lighter than the pure hue:

When a color is mixed with grey, you create tones, which are duller than the pure hue:

When a color is combined with black, you have shades. These are darker than the original hue:

At this point, you might be asking yourself, “Why aren’t black and white on the color wheel?” The uncomplicated answer is that black is the absence of color, while white is the combination of all colors. (For a more detailed explanation, you can read here .)

What Colors Mean

Colors speak volumes all on their own. Color is so powerful, in fact, that it can improve learning by up to 75 percent and increase comprehension on a subject by up to 73 percent.

While warm colors communicate energy, optimism and enthusiasm, cool colors send a message of dependability, professionalism and peace.

Within these categories, each color is associated with an emotion or concept, depending on the cultural context (while red can mean passion and love in the West, in China, it is associated with prosperity). According to Smashing Magazine , some of the most common associations made in the West include:

• Red: passion, romance, anger
• Orange: optimism, happiness, energy
• Yellow: happiness, hope
• Green: fertility, nature, abundance
• Blue: professionalism, calm, transparency
• Purple: luxury, royalty, creativity
• Black: elegance, mystery, darkness
• White: purity, cleanliness
• Brown: enduring, dependability, nature
• Beige: conservatism, piety, dullness

How to Combine Colors

Now that we’ve gone through the basics of the color wheel, we can go through the process for creating different color combinations.

To do this, we must first learn the different classifications of colors, depending on their placement on the color wheel.

Warm Colors

For example, the warm colors on the wheel are the reds, oranges and yellows:

Cool Colors

On the opposite side are the cool colors: the greens, blues and violets:

Complementary Colors

To create complementary color combinations, you must select two colors that sit opposite each other--such as a warm color like orange and a cool color like blue:

Split Complementary Colors

These are comprised of two adjacent colors and another complementary color:

Triads and Tetradic Color Combinations

These color schemes use geometric shapes to choose and combine three or four different hues from the color wheel:

Analogous Colors

These colors sit next to each other on the color wheel:

Monochromatic Colors:

This type of color combination is made up of different tints, tones and shades of the same hue:

How to Choose the Ideal Color Scheme

Besides looking to the color wheel to select your color schemes, as covered above, there are a few other handy tips to keep in mind.

High Contrast

For one, it’s important to create high contrast slides to achieve the highest impact possible. For example, if you have a dark background, then it’s a no-brainer to use a lighter font.

Or if you’ve chosen a monochromatic color scheme, you want to accentuate important details with one complementary color on the opposite side of the color wheel.

It is important to understand that contrast is not simply about choosing different colors but selecting those that will create the most visual interest when placed side by side.

Since pure hues all have the same levels of saturation (the intensity of a color) and value (how light or dark a color is), creating a combination with only pure hues will result in an unimpressive scheme. This is why using varying tones, shades and tints is so vital to an effective presentation.

For example, in the color scheme below, the use of different tones, shades and tints makes this a very eye-catching combination:

Via Smashing Magazine

According to Smashing Magazine , an easy but effective way to create your own high-contrast color scheme is to select varying tones, shades and tints of a specific color (not the pure hue) and then select another pure color at least three spaces away on the wheel to act as an accent color.

Keep It Simple

You’ve probably heard this before, but when it comes to design, less is usually more. Try to keep it simple and don’t use too many colors. In general, three to four colors is sufficient for a presentation.

The 60-30-10 Rule

According to the award-winning presentation company Ethos3 , an easy way to create a balanced presentation is to stick by the 60-30-10 rule.

This means that if you’ve chosen three colors, as recommended above, then you should devote 60 percent of the space on your slides to the primary color, 30 percent to the secondary and 10 percent to the accent color.

Spread Content Out

Another simple rule is to spread your content out into bite-sized morsels throughout your presentation so that it is as easy to digest as possible.

Long gone are the days when you used to create presentations with 10 or 15 slides. Nowadays, engaging presentations that can be viewed in less than 3 minutes consist of 50 to 60 slides.

Why? Because the lower the slide count, the more information you’ve probably crammed into each slide. On the other hand, the higher the slide count, the more visuals and the less words you’ve probably used to explain each concept.

How to Create Your Own Palettes

One designer’s secret for finding just the right color scheme for your presentation is to use the tool Adobe Color CC .

Not only will it give you hundreds of predefined palettes to choose from--as well as the ability to create color schemes based on the color wheel--it will also allow you to create vivid color palettes from your favorite photos.

All you have to do is upload an image with a color scheme that evokes the emotions you’re going for and then save the hex color codes generated by the tool.

For example, we chose this image for the way the colors convey calmness and warmth:

The tool then generated this color scheme for us:

The beauty of this tool is that you can then modify this scheme by choosing from a variety of moods: Colorful, Bright, Muted, Deep and Dark:

We then chose this scheme:

And this is how it looks on a slide:

How about your color schemes? Do they convey the right emotions? We would love to hear your thoughts and experiences. Just drop us a line in the comments section below.

And if you want to learn all our secrets on how to deliver an unforgettable presentation (as well as how to create visual slides with impact), grab our free e-book below.

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About the Author

Nayomi Chibana is a journalist and writer for Visme’s Visual Learning Center. Besides researching trends in visual communication and next-generation storytelling, she’s passionate about data-driven content.

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The Power of Color: How to Apply Color Theory in Your Presentations

Stop putting your audience to sleep with boring presentations learn how to apply color theory for a more impactful and engaging design..

In the digital age , presentation skills are more important than ever . With countless slideshows, webinars, and virtual meetings happening every day, it’s easy for your message to get lost in the noise. That’s where color theory comes in.

Color theory is the science and art of using color to create a harmonious and impactful visual experience . By understanding how colors interact and how they affect our mood and perception, you can take your presentations from boring to brilliant.

In this article, we’ll explore the basics of color theory and how you can apply it to your presentations to create a lasting impression on your audience. We’ll cover everything from color psychology to color combinations and show you how to use them to create compelling and effective presentations.

First, we’ll dive into the psychology of color . Did you know that different colors can elicit different emotional responses from your audience? For example, red is often associated with passion and energy, while blue is often associated with calmness and trustworthiness. By understanding the psychological impact of colors, you can use them strategically to enhance your message and connect with your audience on a deeper level.

Next, we’ll explore color combinations . Choosing the right colors can make or break your presentation. We’ll teach you the basics of color harmonies and show you how to create eye-catching color schemes that are both aesthetically pleasing and effective at conveying your message.

We’ll also cover practical tips on how to use color in your presentations , such as how to choose the right font color, how to use color to highlight important information, and how to avoid common mistakes that can detract from your message.

By the end of this article, you’ll have a solid understanding of color theory and how to apply it to your presentations . You’ll be able to create stunning visuals that capture your audience’s attention and leave a lasting impression. So, whether you’re a seasoned presenter or a beginner just starting out, this article is for you. Get ready to take your presentations from boring to brilliant with the power of color theory.

Psychology of Color

Color has a powerful impact on our emotions and perception. Understanding the psychology of color can help you use it to your advantage in your presentations, making them more engaging, memorable, and effective.

Let’s start with red. Red is a high-energy color that is often associated with passion, excitement, and urgency. It can stimulate the senses and increase heart rate and blood pressure. That’s why you’ll often see it used in advertising and marketing to grab people’s attention and create a sense of urgency. However, too much red can be overwhelming and even aggressive, so use it sparingly and strategically.

These are just a few examples of how color can affect our emotions and perception . By understanding the psychology of color, you can use it to your advantage in your presentations, creating a visual experience that not only looks great but also resonates with your audience on a deeper level and create the mood and atmosphere you want. So, choose your colors wisely and get ready to make an impact with the power of color psychology. Remember to balance colors appropriately and use them strategically to enhance your message and connect with your audience on a deeper level.

Color Combinations

Choosing the right color scheme for your presentation can be a daunting task, but it’s essential to creating a cohesive and impactful visual experience for your audience. Here are some tips on how to explore color combinations and choose the right colors for your presentation.

Start with a color wheel

A color wheel is a great tool for exploring color combinations. It shows the relationship between primary, secondary, and tertiary colors and can help you create complementary, analogous, or triadic color schemes. Play around with different combinations to see what works best for your message and brand.

Consider your brand

If you have an established brand, you may want to use your brand colors in your presentation to reinforce brand recognition. If not, consider the values and message of your presentation and choose colors that reflect those. For example, if your presentation is about nature, you may want to use green and earth tones.

Think about the mood

Different colors evoke different emotions and moods. Consider the mood you want to create in your presentation and choose colors that reflect that. For example, if you want to create a calming and peaceful atmosphere, you may want to use light blues or soft pastels.

Use contrast

Contrast can make your presentation more visually interesting and help important information stand out. Choose colors that contrast well with each other, such as black and white or red and green. But be careful not to use too many contrasting colors, as it can be overwhelming for your audience.

Keep it simple

Too many colors can be distracting and take away from your message. Stick to a few main colors and use them consistently throughout your presentation. This will create a more cohesive and professional look.

Consider accessibility

It’s important to choose colors that are accessible to all individuals, including those with color blindness. Avoid using color alone to convey important information and use high-contrast color combinations to make it easier for everyone to read and understand.

Test it out

Before your presentation, test out your color scheme on different devices and screens to ensure it looks good in all environments. You can also ask a few colleagues or friends for their feedback on the color scheme and adjust as needed.

In summary, exploring color combinations and choosing the right colors for your presentation takes some thought and consideration. Use a color wheel, consider your brand and the mood you want to create, use contrast, keep it simple, consider accessibility, and test it out. By following these tips, you can create a visually appealing and effective presentation that connects with your audience on a deeper level.

How to Choose the Right Color s for Presentations

Using color effectively in your presentations is an important part of creating a visually engaging and impactful experience for your audience. Here are some practical tips on how to use color in your presentations.

Choose the right font color

Font color is crucial for readability, so it’s important to choose a color that contrasts well with your background. For example, black or dark gray text works well on a light background, while white or light text is better on a dark background. Avoid using light-colored text on a light background or dark-colored text on a dark background, as it can be difficult to read.

Use color to highlight important information

Color can draw attention to important information and help it stand out from the rest of the content. Use a contrasting color to highlight key points, such as statistics or quotes. But be careful not to overdo it, as too much color can be overwhelming and detract from your message.

Create a consistent color scheme

A consistent color scheme can make your presentation look more polished and professional. Choose a few main colors and use them consistently throughout your presentation. This includes font color, background color, and accent colors. Use shades of the same color to create depth and interest.

Avoid common color mistakes

There are a few common mistakes that can detract from your message. For example, using too many bright or clashing colors can be distracting, while using too many pastel or muted colors can be boring. Avoid using neon colors, as they can be difficult to read and can give your presentation an unprofessional look.

Consider cultural differences

Different cultures can associate different meanings with colors. For example, in Western cultures, white is often associated with purity and innocence, while in some Asian cultures, it’s associated with mourning. Be mindful of the cultural context of your audience and choose colors that are appropriate.

Use color in charts and graphs

Charts and graphs can be made more visually appealing and easier to understand by using color to differentiate data sets. Use consistent colors throughout the chart or graph to create a clear visual hierarchy.

In summary, using color effectively in your presentations requires some thought and consideration. Choose the right font color, use color to highlight important information, create a consistent color scheme, avoid common color mistakes, consider cultural differences, and use color in charts and graphs. By following these practical tips, you can create a visually engaging and impactful presentation that resonates with your audience.

Tips and Tricks: How to Make Your Presentation Look Professional

Applying the theory of color to your presentations can take your design game to the next level. Here are some tips on how to apply color theory effectively in your presentations , along with some modern design tips to enhance your visuals .

Understand the basics of color theory

Understanding color theory is essential to using color effectively in your presentations. It’s important to understand the different color schemes, such as complementary, analogous, and monochromatic, and how they can be used to create visual interest and harmony. Additionally, knowing the emotions and associations that are commonly associated with certain colors can help you create a mood or convey a message.

Choose a color palette

Once you have a basic understanding of color theory, it’s time to choose a color palette for your presentation. You can choose a color palette based on your brand colors, the theme of your presentation, or the emotions you want to evoke. Stick to a limited color palette to keep your design cohesive and avoid overwhelming your audience.

Create visual interest with contrast

Contrast is important for creating visual interest and directing the viewer’s attention. Use contrasting colors to create a hierarchy of information and draw attention to important elements. This can include using a bright color for headings or important text, or using a contrasting color for buttons or calls to action.

Use color blocking

Color blocking is a modern design trend that involves using large areas of color to create a bold and impactful design. Use color blocking to create a strong visual hierarchy and make important information stand out. For example, you can use a bright color for the background of a slide and use a contrasting color for the text.

Consider typography

Typography is an important part of design, and it’s essential to consider the relationship between your font and your color palette. Choose fonts that complement your color palette and create a harmonious design. Use a bold font for headings and a more subtle font for body text. You can use a free tool like Google Fonts to search for the right font.

Add texture

Texture can add depth and interest to your design, and it can be achieved through the use of patterns or images. Use texture sparingly, as too much can be overwhelming. Consider using texture to add visual interest to backgrounds or to create contrast between different elements. Also, you can use our free backgrounds to enhance your slides.

In conclusion, applying the theory of color to your presentations requires a basic understanding of color theory, the ability to choose a color palette, creating contrast, using color blocking, considering typography, and adding texture. By following these tips, you can create a visually engaging and modern design that effectively communicates your message to your audience.

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Color Wheel Basics: How To Choose the Right Color Scheme for your PowerPoint Slides

Anuj Malhotra

How many times have you used this circle called a Color Wheel to choose the best colors for your presentation?

Very rarely or never, unless you are a professional designer of course. The rest of us rely on our judgement to pick slide colors, which sometimes leads to horrible disasters like the slide below ( This is a recreation of an actual slide, not made out of some wild imagination. This was the exact color scheme and design of the slide, only random text has been added in place of the presenter’s content ):

More of such true examples can be shown here, some worse than others, but in our readers’ health interests it is best that we avoid it. In defense of the presenter, choosing colors that look good together is easier said than done. That’s why, a brief knowledge of color harmonies and the color wheel can go a long way in avoiding such embarrassments.

Before we help you put Isaac Newton’s color wheel into action, it’s best that you also know the meaning of some color terminologies that designers loosely throw around in their talks. (This will help you impress the handful of beautiful designers next time you are conversing with them 🙂

Color Terminologies You Ought to Know

Here are the terms most commonly used to describe the physical properties of a color:

Hue: Hue is the color itself, the name that we give to a color. Red, blue, green for example. So don’t have a confused look if a designer happens to use the word hue in some conversation. There is no difference between the two. On the basis of hue, we divide colors into Warm Colors and Cool Colors. We will get to that once we have finished all the color terminologies.

Value: Value is the lightness or darkness of a color as measured on a gray scale. So, in terms of value, color can be divided into Light Colors and Dark Colors.

Saturation / Intensity: When we talk about intensity, we talk about the purity of a color i.e. its saturation. A completely saturated color is 100% of that color. A 100% yellow is completely saturated but as soon as you add white to it, it looks duller. On the basis of intensity, we divide colors into Dull Colors and Vivid Colors.

Shade: The darker version of a color is called a shade. Different shades of a color can be created by adding varying amounts of black to a color.

Tint: The lighter version of a color is called tint. You add white to a pure hue to create different tints.

Tone: Here you add gray to a color to create different tones of that color.

Warm Colors Vs Cool Colors

Warm Colors , as the name suggests, remind us of sunlight and heat. Red, yellow and orange are warm colors and look as if they are approaching us. These colors create a very strong, dynamic mood and are perfect for those presentations where you want your audience to feel excited, happy and hungry (Restaurants have been using this trick since ages to lure us and gulp mouthfuls).

Cool Colors , on the other hand, tend to recede from us. Violet, blue and green are cool colors and have a calming effect on us. Tourist ads often show beaches and expanse of blue sky to tempt us to ditch our stressful lives for a while and run to those destinations for peace and relaxation.

Here’s how the two colors are represented on the Color Wheel:

Color Models: RGB, CMYK and HSV

RGB Color Model: If you recall your school class, there are three primary colors of light - red, green and blue. RGB color model is an additive color model as red, green and blue are added in various combinations to produce a wide spectrum of colors. Red and green light combine together to create yellow, blue and green add to produce cyan, and red and blue add together to produce magenta. All three colors of light- red, green and blue- mix to create white light. This color model is used in television screens and computer monitors.

For design purposes, we however speak in terms of primary colors of pigment- Cyan (or blue), magenta (or red) and yellow. That brings us to the CMYK model of color.

CMYK Color Model: CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key) is a subtractive color model. That is, they are produced by subtracting from the primary colors of light. When red is subtracted from green and blue, it becomes cyan. When we subtract blue from red and green, we get yellow. And when red and blue are joined and green is subtracted, we get magenta. All three add together to create black or the key color. Here, we differentiate between the primary, secondary and tertiary colors:

• Primary Colors: Red, yellow and blue are called the primary colors of pigment. These cannot be formed by combining any other colors. These are pure colors and all others are derived from these.
• Secondary Colors: Orange, Green, and Violet are secondary colors. These are formed by the mixing of two or more primary colors.
• Tertiary Colors: Red-Orange, Yellow-Orange, Yellow-Green, Blue-Green, Blue-Violet, and Red-Violet are tertiary colors since these are produced by the mixing of two or more secondary colors.

HSV Color Model: HSV (hue, saturation and value) is an improvement upon the RGB color model. Improvement in the sense that it is more user-friendly while RGB is meant for machines. You already understand the difference between hue, saturation and value by now. You can vary the saturation and value of colors to create dynamic color schemes.

A variation of this color model is the HSL Color Model . Here, L stands for lightness or luminosity. It’s not the same thing as value. Value is perceived as the "amount of light" which can be any color while Lightness is best understood as the amount of white.

PowerPoint provides both RGB and HSL color models when you are choosing color for shapes or text. You can move the arrow up and down (see the screenshot below) to try variations of a color. When you move the arrow up, it shows the lighter versions of that color, when you move down it shows darker. You can see the difference in the new and current square box. Press the OK button when you have spotted the right color.

Color Harmonies: Most popular techniques to create Color Schemes

Finally, we come down to choosing the best color combinations for our slides. Now that we know the basics, it will be easier for us to appreciate the tremendous variety of color choices that the color wheel offers. These color choices have been proved to be pleasing to the eye. Called color harmonies or color chords, they consist of two or more colors with a fixed relation in the color wheel. So, here they are:

Complementary Color Scheme: This scheme is made up of those colors that are opposite to one another on the color wheel. Just pick any color on the color wheel and trace its exact opposite. So, if you choose orange-yellow, blue-violet would be its complementary color.

These two colors produce the maximum contrast and give a very dynamic and vibrant look to your slides. Here’s a slide created using the complementary color scheme:

Note: Pure complementary colors can often look jarring. Too much contrast can hurt the eyes, so it’s better to go for gradients of those colors to soften the look. You can, therefore, use the color wheel below to choose the complementary colors. The above coffee image looks quite jarring while the one below having a tint of orange-yellow and shade of blue-violet creates a beautiful contrast and gives a rich look to your slide:

Split-Complementary Color Scheme: This scheme is a variation of the complementary color scheme. But here instead of choosing the opposite color on the wheel, you pick two colors that lie on the either side of the complement. So, if you choose red-orange, blue, green and red-orange it would together make one split-complementary scheme.

Here’s a slide designed using the scheme. Split-complementary colors have a good contrast but not as high a contrast (which often creates a jarring look) as the complementary scheme.

Analogous Color Schemes: Analogous colors are placed adjacent to one another on the color wheel. Take any three adjacent colors on the color wheel to try out this scheme. So, if you choose orange-yellow as the dominant color, then yellow and orange would together make up the analogous color scheme.

As opposed to a vibrant look produced by the complementary color scheme, the analogous color scheme creates harmony and cohesiveness since there is a unity of shades. For instance in the slide below, we took yellow-green, yellow and green to deliver a powerful “Go Green” message. Notice that instead of bright yellow in the background which would appear vibrating on the screen, a lighter shade was opted for which lends a soothing look and feel to the overall slide.

Triadic Color Scheme: This color scheme is made up of three colors equally spaced on the color wheel. Create an isosceles triangle to choose any 3 colors for your slides. All these contrast beautifully to create a rich look for your slides.

Look at the richness of the slide created using the triadic scheme. The vibrancy of the red, yellow and blue colors creates a youthful, refreshing look. You can let one of these colors be the dominant color in the slide and use the other two to add richness and color.

Tetradic Color Scheme: Two pairs of complementary colors together create this scheme. Draw a rectangular shape across the color wheel to pick the 4 colors. This scheme balances out cool and warm colors.

Here’s a slide that uses this scheme to differentiate four rectangular boxes without looking too colorful:

Monochromatic Color Scheme: This scheme is based on variations of a single color. The variations can be lighter (tint) and darker (shade) versions of that color.

This scheme is great when you want to establish a strong mood and use your brand color. It is also great when you want a clean look on your slide. But as a negative and for obvious reasons, the color scheme lacks contrast. The primary color can therefore be paired with neutral color such as black, white or grey to highlight some important element. Just as it is done in the slide below:

Achromatic Color Scheme: An achromatic color scheme is one that is colorless using only blacks, whites, and grays. This creates a sophisticated and classic look but since it is devoid of any color, it looks lifeless and is thus avoided in slide design. This slide looks pretty decent with achromatic scheme:

With this, we come to an end to colors, color wheel and color harmonies. But actually, there can be no end to this topic. The deeper you go, the more you’ll learn about it. Color is purely subjective but it is too strong a factor to be left to guesses and intuition. Unless you want to create a disaster slide like we showed in the beginning! You don’t want to see that one again and we are pretty sure you do not want to be guilty of creating such a one either.

So, copy the color wheel image, keep it next to you on the slide and then choose the colors wisely.

If you need to create a customized business template for all your company's communication and PowerPoint presentations that has the best color scheme, contact our expert PowerPoint designers that handle such requests for small, medium and large organizations as well as Fortune 500 companies.

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3 Questions You Need to Ask Yourself Before Choosing the Color for your Presentation

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Learn to Pick and Create Custom PowerPoint Color Schemes!

Picking your PowerPoint presentation color palette is no easy task! You must look for a color combination that complements each other and calls attention to the presentation’s content without being distracting. Picking a color scheme for your PowerPoint presentation is an art, and takes practice and design knowledge. Luckily, there are many online resources that will help you create and pick your next PowerPoint color palette.

PowerPoint offers some pre-made color palettes you can use when making your presentations. However, it’s difficult to come up with a color scheme on your own when you already have a base color on your mind, or you need something that will go well with your brand’s color scheme.

Quick Color Theory

Using colors is both a science and an art. Professional designers spend their whole careers learning how to best harmonize colors and to create specific visual effects for their audience. However, there are still some quick color theory tips everyone can learn and use.

First things first! The color wheel is your best friend when it comes to picking color schemes for your PowerPoint presentation. The color wheel was first invented by Isaac Newton and has been a basic design tool for centuries. Just like its name says, it organizes color hues around a circle in a way that shows the relationship between primary, secondary, and tertiary colors .

The color wheel is an outstanding tool to consider because it’s an easy way to pick colors that will work well together. For example, colors that are next to each other will make your presentation look harmonious. If you want to create a high-contrast, eye-catching PowerPoint color scheme, then you might want to consider using colors that are on opposite ends of the color wheel.

If this sounds too complicated, don’t worry! Luckily, nowadays there are dozens of different color palette generators. You’ll be able to choose a base color, and it’ll automatically generate a harmonious color scheme for your PowerPoint presentation.

Colors vs Hues

You can mix the colors of the color wheel to create a practically unlimited amount of colors. That’s why professional designers prefer to distinguish between the terms ‘color’ and ‘hue’.

Color is an umbrella or general term that encompasses every hue, tint, tone, or shade we see. Hue, on the other hand, refers to primary, secondary, or tertiary colors. Hue is the ‘family’ to which a specific color belongs to. This essentially means there are 12 hues out of millions of colors.

For example, the color pastel pink’s hue is red. This means that red is the ‘color family’ from which this color comes from. Learning to recognize a color’s hue can help you recreate the color at a later time and easily find colors that are a good match for it.

Tint, Tone, and Shade: What’s the Difference?

Hues form the base of any color mixture out there. The only exception would be black, white, and gray – these are simply referred to as colors and not as hues. Mixing any of these with any other color will help you create different tints, tones, and shades out of a color.

• Tint – when you add white to any hue, the resulting color is called a tint. It’s a paler version of the original hue, and are also called ‘pastel’ colors. Depending on the amount of white added, a tint can range from a slightly pale version of the original color all the way to almost white (negligible amount of base color).
• Tone – when you add gray to any color, the resulting color is called a tone. Gray is a 50-50 mixture of black and white and is considered a neutral color. When added to any color, it tones down the intensity and brightness of the original color.
• Shade – when you add black to any color, the resulting color is called a shade. A shade is the exact opposite of a tint as it turns the original color darker (instead of lighter). A shade can range from slightly darker all the way to almost black.

Warm and Cool Colors

When talking about color theory, it’s important to distinguish between warm and cool colors. For practical purposes, you can divide the color wheel between these two groups:

Warm colors: Magenta, Red, Vermilion, Orange, Amber, Yellow

Cool colors: Purple , Violet, Blue , Teal, Green, Chartreuse

I know that’s quite a list to remember, so here’s a rule of thumb about these two groups. Red, orange and yellow hues, tints, tones, and shades all fall under the WARM category. Purple, blue and green and all their corresponding tints, tones, and shades are all COOL colors.

Warm colors are usually vibrant and are great for conveying joy and energy. Cool colors, on the other side, are more calming, relaxing colors. Deciding on what side of the spectrum you want your presentation color scheme to fall under can do wonders to help you upgrade your slide design .

6 basic tips to work with color in your PowerPoint presentations

The right color scheme can make your presentation a smashing success while the wrong colors can, well, smash it (and your credibility) to pieces. To design a presentation slide deck that looks clean and professional , using the right color scheme is vital.

Hopefully, these 6 practical tips will help you pick more easily a great color scheme for your next presentation!

1. Don’t play it by ear!

Stick to a single color palette. Picking colors at random is a sure way to make a presentation that looks a little bit off. Color palettes are ways to group different colors that are proven to work. For example, monochromatic, complementary, and analogous color palettes.

Go to the next section to learn more about these different types of color palettes and how to apply them to your presentations.

2. Keep in simple

Unless you’re an experienced designer, you want to keep your color scheme simple. Just because you’ve got millions of colors to choose from doesn’t mean you should overthink it.

For beginners, a monochromatic color scheme is a good starting point. You simply can’t go wrong with this scheme because all possible color combinations are going to look good together on your slides. You’re basically just working off of one color and just using various tints, tones, or shades to make your slides look easy on the eyes.

For more advanced designers (who don’t consider themselves experts yet), a maximum of 4 colors is recommended. It will not be easy balancing 4 different colors that most likely belong to both warm and cool color categories. So, you’ve got your job cut out for you. A good rule of thumb to remember is to select a dominant color and just use the rest as supporting or accent colors.

3. Use the tools at your disposal!

You don’t need to do everything on your own. There are hundreds of online resources you can use to make your design process easier, and so goes for working with colors! Online color scheme generators are great if you’re not confident enough in your abilities to create one on your own.

You just have to pick a color, a type of color scheme, and you’ll immediately get other colors that will work well with it. In the next section, you’ll find some of my personal favorites color scheme generators and how to work with each of them.

Also, when working on PowerPoint presentation design, the eyedropper tool is your best friend. When your cursor turns into an eyedropper, just click on the color you want to use and PowerPoint will automatically change the color for you. It’ll not only make your life easier, but it’ll also help you guarantee that you are always working with the right colors.

4. Make sure you’re working with high contrast

Contrast is important in presentation slides. It is a must that your audience is able to read whatever is on your slides. You need to use a color scheme that will make your content stand out. Don’t use light colors for text if your presentations also have a light or white background.

Another word of caution: complementary colors do provide good contrast, but you don’t want to use these in text-based slides. Complementary colors are great for using them in different elements. However, since they belong to opposite extremes in the color wheel, overlapping them can be very grating to the eye! If you want to use bright, complementary colors, a neutral-color background like white, black, or grey will usually be the best option.

5. Follow the 60-30-10 rule

I’ve mentioned earlier in this article that when using 3 or more colors, you want to use 1 main color and the others as secondary or accent colors. Here’s a guideline most designers follow when they use 3 colors:

60% main color – commonly used as background color

30% secondary color – commonly used as shape fill

10% accent color – commonly used in text, borders, and outlines

Note that this is just a guideline. It doesn’t mean you need to strictly follow the 60-30-10 rule, but it’s a good idea nevertheless. If you’re using 4 or more colors, you can follow the same guideline, that is, use the main color in a large percentage of your slides and balance the rest of the colors.

6. Take your business and audience into account

Finally, there’s one last thing to remember when working with colors in presentations. And that is to focus on your brand ! Business presentations are in many ways your introduction card for your audience. It’s the first thing your potential clients and investors will see of you and your company, and it’s an excellent opportunity to make an impression. Keeping your presentation on-brand and making sure it follows your brand identity guidelines is always a great idea.

Your PowerPoint presentation slide design can convey much more than what you might imagine. Take an extra time to ask yourself: What’s your company’s mission and vision? What ideas and values do you want your audience to connect with your brand? Bright warm colors are best for conveying things like creativity, joy, and youthfulness. Cool colors, like blue, black and gray, will rather make your presentation look more sober, sleek, and elegant!

A final tip: You might also want to take into account who your audience is. You want to use colors that will resonate with their beliefs and their values. If you’re trying to persuade a group of highly successful businessmen, you don’t want to use a cartoony shade of yellow as they may not take you seriously. Likewise, you don’t want to use colors you think looks great, but may actually have a more sinister meaning to your audience. Say, for example, the color purple. It may be associated with wealth in many countries, but in Thailand and Brazil, purple represents death or mourning.

Making PowerPoint Color Palettes: 5 proven examples that work!

The first step is to pick what kind of color scheme you want for your PowerPoint presentation. Color schemes, or color palettes, are colors that have been grouped together as they work very well for graphic design. There are certain techniques to guarantee that two colors work well together. For example, choosing from exact opposites in the color wheel.

Here you’ll find 5 proven color schemes that will work every time, plus examples on how to use them in your PowerPoint presentation!

#1. Monochromatic PowerPoint Color Scheme

Monochromatic color palettes are easy to use because you use a single color hue. The only thing you need to do is to pick a base color (for example, blue) and add keep adding white, grey, or black in order to change it. Adding white will create different tints of blue. If you add grey, then you’ll get different kinds of tones . And if you add black, you’ll be creating different shades of your picked color.

Using a monochromatic color scheme in your PowerPoint is very easy. All the tints, tones, and shades will naturally work well with each other since they all come from the same color hue.

#2. Complementary PowerPoint Color Palette

If you’re looking for a high-contrast PowerPoint color scheme, then a complementary palette might be the one for you! Complementary colors are those that lay on exact opposite extremes of the color wheel. Each color has its exact opposite. For example, red and green, or blue and orange. These are colors that work well together, even if at first glance they have nothing in common.

Many brands use complementary colors because they make for bright and lively combinations, great to catch your audience’s attention from the get-go. However, complementary colors are best used in moderation. If you pick a color for a background, and its complementary pair for text, it’s probably going to be too bright and distracting. But complementary colors work great for details over a neutral background to give life and energy to your presentation.

#3. Analogous PowerPoint Color Scheme

If you want a colorful PowerPoint color scheme, but a complementary palette is too bright and bold for your tastes, analogous colors are the way to go! An analogous color scheme consists of three colors that are one next to each other in the color wheel. This makes for a really balanced and harmonious color scheme. PowerPoint presentations with this kind of color palette will probably look very relaxed and easy in the eyes.

#4. Triadic PowerPoint Color Palette

If you draw an equilateral triangle in a color wheel, the combination you’ll get is a triadic color scheme. This type of combination is great for lively combinations that are not as hard in the abrasive as a complementary one. A perfect example of this is the Burger King logo!

If you wish to use this kind of color scheme in PowerPoint, is best to pick one as your main color. Then you can use the other 2 triadic colors for details and extra elements to make them pop.

#5. Tetradic PowerPoint Color Palette

Finally, a tetradic color scheme is another bold and vibrant option. Is perfect for colorful presentations, and to highlight your creative and playful side. You’ll get a tetradic color palette by drawing a rectangle on your color wheel. Just like with the triadic color schemes for PowerPoint presentations, is better is you pick just once color as your main one, and keep the other as support.

3 Amazing Free PowerPoint Color Schemes Generators

There are many different online tools for creating color combinations. Here you’ll find some of the most popular ones that are also completely free and available online. All of these are perfect for creating an amazing PowerPoint color scheme that will fit your tastes and needs.

1. Adobe Color Wheel

This color scheme generator is amazing if you need various color options! According to your color base and setting preferences, it’ll offer you a 5 color-palette for your PowerPoint presentation. So if, for example, you pick a triadic color scheme, you’ll get 2 extra options that are still aligned with it.

It’s perfect for creating PowerPoint color schemes, as it’s very easy to use. You just need to manually drag the pointer within the color wheel until you find your base color of choice. On the left side, you’ll find all the color scheme options. And below the color wheel, you have the option to change the color codes (see next section). If you know the color code of your color base, you can also add it manually!

2. Paletton

Paletton is another great option for creating PowerPoint color schemes for your next presentation. Just like Adobe’s Color Wheel, you just need to drag the pointer across the color wheel to pick your base color. The best thing about Paletton is that it has a double color wheel. The outer color wheel has all the traditional color hues. And the inner one will allow you to pick more neatly the specific tint, grey, or shade you want of that color. It’s truly a lifesaver when looking for PowerPoint color schemes!

Above the color wheel, you’ll find the options for monochromatic, analogous, triadic, and tetradic palettes. To get the codes to use your color scheme in PowerPoint, there is the Tables/Export option. This will give you the color names in both Hex and RGB codes. If you already know the base color you’ll be using, you can add it manually in Hex code in the lower left side of the color wheel.

This one doesn’t have a color wheel, but it’s still a very interesting option for creating PowerPoint color schemes. This website creates random color palettes, which is great is you don’t have something specific in mind. The Generate button will automatically give you amazing color schemes, according to your determine settings. You can change between these (monochromatic, analogous, complementary, etc.) in the More option > Generate method . You can also pick the Explore option to see popular and trendy palettes!

But more importantly, the best feature Coolors offers is that you can create a color palette from a photo. Pick the camera option to upload or search for any image you like. Once it’s uploaded, click on the image’s colors to create your own customized palette!

You can also copy the hex code of your palette directly into your clipboard, which makes it really easy to use for creating a PowerPoint color scheme!

How to add a Customized PowerPoint Color Palette

Great! Now you have your perfect palette. But you have to add it as a PowerPoint color scheme. This might seem complicated at first, but it’s actually pretty easy, and once you’ve done, the color theme will be there, ready for you to use. This way, you won’t have to worry about looking color by color afterward!

Go to the Design ribbon > Variants section > More . Hover over Colors and you’ll get all the default PowerPoint color themes. Go to the end and click the Customize colors… options.

A “Create New Theme Colors” Window will appear. This is where you create your customized PowerPoint color scheme! Add all the colors you need to the Accent categories by clicking on each one’s arrow and selecting the More colors… option.

In the new “ Colors ” window you’ll get, add the color code of the PowerPoint color scheme you’ve come with thanks to the generators. For example, this beautiful rose-tones color palette from Coolors.

Once you copy-and-paste the hex code of each color into each accent category, you just need to name your custom PowerPoint color scheme! Save it, and next time you open the Colors option in the Design tab, you’ll see your custom-made PowerPoint color palettes.

Custom PowerPoint Design

Hopefully, these color scheme generators and quick tutorials will help you to do better and more personalized PowerPoint presentations. Design can be pretty tricky, so using a color palette can definitely make your life a little easier.

PowerPoint presentations play a huge role in what your audience’s first impression of you is going to be. You can use your PowerPoint design to convey a specific message or highlight your brand’s image. A good PowerPoint can help you not only as a visual aid for your information, but also to showcase creativity, professionalism, playfulness, trustworthiness, and so on!

However, making a good PowerPoint presentation takes time and effort. Just look at all these steps in order to get a nice, custom PowerPoint color scheme. If you want to forget about everything PowerPoint and still get amazing results, check out our professional PowerPoint design service ! Our designers here at 24Slides will make sure that you receive a presentation that will impress your audience, showcases your information, and conveys your brand essence.

Don’t believe it? You can try it for just $1 . Send our designers any slide you want, and you can be sure you’ll receive back a complete masterpiece!

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Color Theory 101: Color Wheels, Color Schemes, and Why Everything You Think You Know About Color Might Be Wrong

Published: July 16, 2024

When I sat down at my laptop to update this article, I thought I had at least a fifth-grader’s grasp of color wheels.

I certainly didn’t expect to uncover a completely contradictory view of color theory. Nor did I expect this new theory to lead me down an existential rabbit hole and question everything I thought I knew about color.

So let’s take a journey through color theory, both traditional and perceptual (remember that word), with a marketer’s eye toward harmonious color schemes, accessible UX, and eye-catching visuals.

We'll cover the following topics:

Color Theory and Marketing

What is color theory, why is color theory important in web design, color theory 101: traditional color theory, additive & subtractive color theory, color theory 201: the theory of color perception, the meaning of color, what are the seven types of color schemes, examples of color schemes, how to choose a color scheme, how to use color palettes, color tools.

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Is a picture still worth a thousand words if its color scheme makes you queasy?

We all know that infographics, charts, graphs, and animated GIFs can attract and keep an audience’s attention — but not if you pair neon green with khaki (look up hex codes #02ff00 and #d2c08e if you want proof. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.)

A working knowledge of color theory and design can help keep readers’ eyes on your content.

We’ll start with traditional color theory, and then we’ll turn everything inside out and explore another way of approaching color and accessibility.

Let’s start with what it isn’t: Color theory is not a fixed, monolithic body of knowledge.

I’ll use the term “traditional color theory” to refer to the common guidelines and rules that are rooted in the red-yellow-blue model, and also to distinguish it from perception color theory (that word again!).

Those are most relevant to the modern marketer, but color theory has fascinated philosophers, artists, and scientists for many centuries.

Aristotle wrote about color theory around 330 BCE, and the Arab scientist Ibn al-Haytham, the father of modern optics, made significant contributions to color theory in the 9th century, during the Islamic Golden Age.

Traditional color theory is the basis for the primary rules and guidelines that surround color and its use in creating aesthetically pleasing visuals.

Understanding these basics can, according to former HubSpotter Bethany Cartwright, give you a logical structure to create and use color palettes more strategically. The results will let you deliberately evoke a particular emotion, vibe, or aesthetic — essentials for good marketing.

Color can influence the meaning of text, how users move around a particular layout, and what they feel. By understanding color theory, you can be more intentional in creating visuals that make an impact.

There are many tools to help marketers — even those of us who daydreamed through art class — create compelling visuals. But graphic design requires a little more background knowledge of design principles .

Take selecting the right color combination , for instance. It might seem easy at first, but when you‘re staring down a color wheel, you’re going to wish you had a little more information. In fact, brands of all sizes use color psychology to learn how color influences decision-making and affects design.

Understanding how colors work together, the impact they can have on mood and emotion, and how they change the look and feel of your website is critical if you want to stand out from the crowd — for the right reasons.

Whether your goal is more effective CTAs , higher sales conversions, or just raising your marketing game , the right color choice can highlight specific sections of your website, make it easier for users to navigate, or give them a sense of familiarity from the moment they click through.

But it’s not enough to simply select colors and hope for the best — color theories, moods and schemes, finding the right HTML color codes , and identifying web-accessible colors for products and websites are key to your success.

Read on for our guide to traditional color theory, perception color theory, color wheels, and color schemes for your site .

Let's go back to high school art class for the basics of traditional color theory, starting with primary, secondary, and tertiary colors.

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The Color Wheel: Unearthing the Secrets of Hue & Design

Color Harmonies Color Theory Color Wheel Design Design Techniques Presentation Design Presentations

The color wheel stands as a cornerstone for artists, designers, and anyone crafting visual content. But understanding it is as critical as grasping key presentation guidelines like the 5/5/5 rule and the 10/20/30 rule . It goes beyond merely selecting appealing colors; it's a blend of science and art that influences our feelings and choices. In this article, we'll journey through what it is, its different types, and characteristics, the different types of colour theory, and its significance in presentation design.

What is the Color Wheel?

The color wheel is a guide for shades and hues. Picture a circle with specific colors placed next to each other. It starts with primary colors: red, blue, and yellow. Mixing these gives secondary colors like green and purple. Blend those, and you get more colors. This wheel shows which of these complement each other. Artists, designers, and many others use it. Whether decorating a space, building a website, or making slides, the wheel helps in selecting the right colors. It's a simple yet powerful tool for understanding and using color effectively.

What Are The Different Types of Colors?

Primary colors: the building blocks.

Primary colors are the foundation of all other colors. In the RGB model, these colors are red, green, and blue. They cannot be created by mixing other colors, making them unique and crucial in color theory.

Secondary Colors: The Offspring

When you mix two primary colors, you get secondary colors. They are green (blue + yellow), orange (red + yellow), and purple (red + blue). They hold a middle ground in the color theory wheel, bridging the gap between primary and tertiary colors.

Tertiary Colors: The Complex Shades

Tertiary colors are the result of combining a primary and a secondary color. This gives us six tertiary colors: red-orange, yellow-orange, yellow-green, blue-green, blue-violet, and red-violet. They add depth and nuance to the color theory wheel.

Characteristics of Color

Color is a multifaceted phenomenon with several key characteristics that help us define and understand its nature. These characteristics are essential for artists, designers, and anyone working with it in any medium. The primary characteristics include:

Definition: Hue refers to the name of the color or the type of color we see, such as red, blue, yellow, etc. Significance: It helps in identifying and categorizing colors. Different hues evoke different feelings and reactions.

Definition: Value describes the lightness or darkness of a color. It can be adjusted by adding white to lighten (tint) or black to darken (shade) a hue. Significance: Value plays a crucial role in creating depth, mood, and visual interest in art and design. It's essential in creating contrasts and highlights.

3. Saturation (or Intensity)

Definition: Saturation defines the brilliance or dullness of a colour. Color is in full saturation when it's pure and hasn't been muted or greyed by adding its complementary color. Significance: It helps in describing the strength or weakness of a hue. Saturation can be used to draw attention or give an understated look to a design or artwork.

Definition: Chroma measures the purity of a color or its difference from a neutral colour (gray, white, or black). A color with high chroma has a vivid intensity, while one with low chroma appears more muted. Significance: Chroma helps in understanding the difference between a color from its purest state and is used to differentiate between different levels of purity within a hue.

5. Temperature

Definition: Colors are often described as being "warm" or "cool." Warm ones are those that remind us of heat and sunlight, like reds, oranges, and yellows. Cool colors evoke feelings of calm and coolness, like blues, greens, and purples. Significance: Temperature can influence the mood of an artwork or design. Warm colors can appear inviting and energetic, while cool colors may seem distant or calming.

6. Complementary

Definition: Complementary colors are those that sit opposite each other on the color wheel. For instance, red and green or blue and orange are complementary pairs. Significance: When used together, they create strong contrasts, making each color appear brighter and more vivid.

7. Tints, Tones, and Shades

Tint: A color mixed with white. Tone: A color mixed with gray. Shade: A color mixed with black. Significance: By using tints, tones, and shades, artists and designers can expand a color's range, offering a broader palette to work with and more nuanced color choices.

Understanding these characteristics provides a solid foundation for working with color effectively, allowing one to manipulate and use it to evoke specific reactions, moods, or statements in their work.

What is Color Theory?

Color theory explores how hues interact, influence feelings, and guide design choices. It uses a tool called the color wheel to illustrate these relationships. This knowledge helps in selecting matching shades, setting the right mood, or grabbing attention. While artists and designers often use it, anyone can benefit. It aids in tasks like choosing clothes, decorating spaces, or creating presentations. Essentially, it helps optimize how you use shades.

Types of Color Theory

Color theory encompasses several concepts and approaches to understanding and effectively using color. Some of the core types and principles of color theory include

The Color Wheel

This is a circular representation of colors that illustrates the relationships between primary, secondary, and tertiary colors.

Color Harmony

This principle focuses on combinations of colors that are visually appealing and create a sense of order. Examples include complementary, analogous, triadic, and tetradic color schemes.

Warm and Cool Colors

Colours are categorized as either "warm" (like reds, oranges, and yellows) or "cool" (like blues, greens, and purples) based on the emotions they tend to evoke.

Complementary Colors

Colors opposite each other on the color wheel (e.g., red and green, blue and orange) that create high contrast when paired.

Analogous Colors

Colors that are situated next to each other on the color wheel. They provide a harmonious look (e.g., red, red-orange, and orange).

Triadic Colors

A scheme that uses three colors evenly spaced around the color wheel, offering a balanced yet vibrant look.

Tetradic Colors (Double Complementary)

This scheme uses two sets of complementary colors, making it versatile but also more challenging to balance.

Monochromatic Colors

This scheme uses variations in lightness and saturation of a single color.

Value and Saturation

Value refers to the lightness or darkness of a color, while saturation (or chroma) describes its intensity or purity.

Color Context

How a color behaves in relation to other colors and shapes. The same color can appear differently depending on its surroundings.

Psychology of Color

This examines the emotional and mental effects colors have on viewers. For example, red might evoke feelings of passion or urgency, while blue can convey calmness and trust.

Color Interaction and Relativity

This delves into how colors can change or be perceived differently based on adjacent ones.

It's worth noting that while these principles form the foundation of color theory, their application can vary across different mediums, including digital design, painting, and even fashion.

Why the Color Wheel and Color Theory Matter in Presentation Design?

The color wheel and color theory are crucial in presentation design for several compelling reasons:

Audience Engagement

Colors have the power to capture attention. A well-chosen color scheme can keep your audience focused and engaged throughout your presentation.

Emotional Resonance

Colors evoke emotions. For instance, blue can convey trust, red might signify urgency, while green can evoke calm. By understanding color theory, presenters can choose colors that align with the mood they wish to create.

Improved Readability

Contrasting colors improve text visibility. Using a background and font color that contrast well ensures that slides are easy to read, even from a distance or on smaller screens.

Branding Consistency

For business presentations, maintaining brand colors reinforces company identity. Familiarity with color theory ensures that even when using brand colors, slides remain aesthetically pleasing and harmonious.

Highlighting Information

Through color, presenters can emphasize critical points, guide the audience's eyes to vital data, or make certain sections of the presentation stand out.

Creates Cohesiveness

A consistent color scheme ties slides together, creating a smooth flow. This unity ensures the audience isn't distracted by jarring color transitions.

Psychological Impact

Different colors can stimulate different parts of the brain. For instance, red might make people alert, while blue can be soothing. Understanding these impacts allows for strategic slide design.

Cultural Considerations

In global presentations, it's crucial to recognize that colors can have varied cultural connotations. A solid grasp of color theory can help navigate these nuances.

Professionalism

A well-designed presentation using principles of color theory demonstrates professionalism and attention to detail, thereby building credibility.

Decision Making

In business contexts, colors can influence decision-making. For instance, certain colors might be more persuasive in sales or marketing pitches.

In essence, color theory in presentation design isn't just about aesthetics. It's a strategic tool that, when employed correctly, can enhance communication, drive engagement, and achieve desired outcomes.

Using The Color Wheel and Color Theory to Create Fantastic Presentations

While understanding color theory is pivotal, implementing it effectively in your presentations will determine just how successful they are. Here are a few expert tips to harness its potential:

Start with Recognizable Brand Colors

When diving into color theory in any kind of design for a business, for example, presentation design, it's best to begin with its established brand colors. These shades resonate with the brand's identity. Your task? Use the color theory wheel to seamlessly blend in complementary and analogous colors, enriching the palette while retaining the core essence of the brand.

Simplify with a Limited Palette

The allure of myriad colors can be strong, but for effective color theory in design, less is often more. Stick to a concise palette of three or four primary shades. This promotes uniformity, clarity, and a well-integrated appearance. The color wheel can guide you in blending everything in a harmonious manner.

Guide the Gaze with Color

Harness the potential of colors as visual cues. Draw attention to vital points with striking or contrasting hues. With the principles of color theory in design, you can utilize the color wheel to pinpoint shades that distinctively offset your background, ensuring emphasis where it matters.

Prioritize Inclusive Accessibility

It's vital that your slides resonate with every viewer, encompassing those with color vision variances. Online tools can assist in gauging how your selected hues are perceived by those with different types of color blindness. Make informed adjustments, leaning on the color theory wheel for balanced contrast and harmony.

Stay Fluid and Current

While the core tenets of color theory endure, design and color trends evolve. It's essential to keep abreast of these shifts and be flexible in your approach, infusing color theory in design to ensure your presentations always exude a modern and relevant vibe.

Elevating Presentations with Deck Sherpa

The realm encompassing the color wheel and color theory is vast and fascinating. It’s not just a tool for artists, but a fundamental guide for anyone involved in visual presentations. As we delve deeper into the digital age, the need for compelling, clear, and captivating slides becomes even more necessary.

If you're looking for experts who've mastered the art and science of the color wheel and color theory, look no further than Deck Sherpa. As veterans in presentation design services, we possess a profound understanding of how to best manipulate the color wheel and color theory. The result? Vivid, gorgeous, and efficient slides in every presentation we craft. Ready to elevate your presentations to the next level? Get in touch with our team of designers today via email - [email protected] , or visit the Contact page on our website and fill in the form.

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Home Blog PowerPoint Tutorials How To Choose the Color Scheme for a PowerPoint Presentation

How To Choose the Color Scheme for a PowerPoint Presentation

First impression is the last impression, and rightly so. In almost every facade of life, and especially in professional areas. When it comes to making a first good impression, you must take out some time to perfect your look by choosing smart appearance that will flatter your professional look with the perfect color scheme according to the audience. Similarly, when you need to give a presentation, it needs to be created perfectly with fascinating color schemes. The choice of colors for a presentation, is one of the important factors that must be considered as you initiate the process. An effective creation of a presentation deck can help in building a direct relationship between the presenter and the audience.

People are judged by their physical appearance, similarly, your message will be judged on the basis of its design elements, color combinations, and font styles used even before it is read by the audience. Therefore, it is important to create an interactive and vibrant presentation with the best selection of a PowerPoint color scheme based on the topic you’re presenting to your audience.

So let’s get down to study some color theory basics for a PowerPoint presentation .

Basic Colors Theory

The Color Wheel  was the first model used to demonstrate the relationship between different colors. In which, red, blue, and yellow are the basic and are called as primary colors. After the primary colors, secondary colors are formed with the combinations of the primary colors and they are violet, orange, and green.

In the end, with the combination of primary colors and secondary colors tertiary colors are formed, which results in these colors, red-violet, blue-green, red-orange, blue-violet, yellow-orange, and yellow-green.

Hence, the color wheel or color circle is composed of 12 colors including, red, green, orange, yellow, violet, blue, red-violet, blue-green, red-orange, blue-violet, yellow-orange, and yellow-green.

This color circle is divided into warm and cool colors indicating vividness, energy and calm, soothing respectively. There are three other terms related to color theory those are tint, shade, and tone.

• In tinting, a color is made lighter by adding white.
• In shading, black is added to get the darker version of the color.
• And intoning, gray is added to get a different tone.

How to Choose the Right Color Scheme for your Presentation

Using the basic color theory described before you can apply the following rules of thumb:

Color Schemes – The use of harmonious color

To create a professional color scheme, pick two colors opposite each other on the color wheel (these are called complementary colors), three colors equally spaced around the color wheel forming a triangle (these are called triadic colors) , or four colors forming a rectangle (these are called tetradic colors). Complementary colors are ideal for high contrast. Triadic colors generates a more balanced contrast, used for example for title and subtitles in the same canvas. Finally, tetradic colors allow to have a theme with two vectors of complementary colors. After the basic color scheme is formed, you can tint , shade or intone those colors to expand your palette.

Though Color Theory covered almost everything related to the color scheme, there are few other things you need to keep in mind while choosing a color scheme for presentations.

Since, poor color choice in presentations results in ugly visuals, which put a bad impression on the audience resulting in bad feedback from them.

Some handy tips to keep in mind to choose a good presentation color palette:

Follow high-contrast color scheme

The common mistake found in presentations is color contrast. The presentation slides don’t have enough contrast between the colors chosen for the background and the text or graphics. For professionals, it is very important to create a PowerPoint presentation in high contrast with the background color to attract the audience.

If you have chosen dark background then choose light text and graphics or vice-versa to blend the content with the background and not to make it float above the background. The more contrast you will have and the easier it will be for your audiences to see the text or graphic you are using.

For example, you can take the following slide. The PowerPoint theme uses monochromatic colors (black, grey, white) using high contrast between black,grey and white to differentiate text from the background. It adds two highlighting colors green and fuchsia in order generate contrast and help focusing the audience view in other sectors.

Follow simplicity

Don’t make it gaudy! When it comes to professionalism, simple yet attractive color combinations are the most preferred and recommended. Try to keep the design as simple as possible with a perfect blend of colors and graphics. It is recommended that three to four colors are sufficient for a presentation.

Follow the 60-30-10 rule

The 60-30-10 rule is an interior design color scheme best practice, which adaptation to graphic design has become very popular. It states that the appropriate color proportion of a space (in this case the presentation canvas) should comply with the 60%, 30%, 10% distribution, in order to be considered balanced. The main color (60% distribution) should cover background, the secondary color (30% distribution) will be used for shapes fill or images filter, finally the 10% is allocated as the accent color, used in outlines and text.

In recent studies, it is found that 90% of the decisions are made on the basis of color schemes . In another study regarding branding, states that there is a great relationship between brand and the color being used to represent it. The audience gets attracted only if the color “perfectly fits” to what is being sold.

When you choose a perfect color scheme for a presentation, it comes out to be the most effective. While other color combinations make your presentations difficult to watch and understand.

Here are some mistakes you should avoid while choosing the color combination for a PowerPoint presentation.

Mistakes to Avoid While Combining Colors in PowerPoint

Here are three common mistakes that you must avoid while choosing colors for your PowerPoint presentation:

Illegibility

It becomes difficult to see slides due to color choice. A presentation with a bad or wrong combination of colors could be illegible under specific lighting conditions or monitors. The simplest color combinations that make presentations readable are dark text with a light background and vice-versa.

Unclear graphics

In graphics or charts, use colors to distinguish associations or data points or relationships between entities. You can use a single color to represent similar data groups to distinguish from others. This is the best way to make things clear and understandable to viewers. On the other hand, different colors confuse viewers and make it difficult to understand the things shown in slides.

Too much of everything is bad

Whether it is too much of text or images, it isn’t good for your presentation. Slides with a summarized form of data allow viewers to concentrate more on the presenter, who is explaining the topic than the presentation slides.

Text, images, and graphics strengthen your presentation so make sure the text color contrasts as much as possible with a majority of the picture colors and background as well. These tips work well to choose a proper color palette for PowerPoint, but also for presentations in Google Slides.

Color Palette Ideas to Take Inspiration From

Sure you can create your own color combinations with all these tips that we’ve lined out. But it will make your life more easy if you take inspiration from pre-combined palette and presentation templates.

1. Modern Gradient Backgrounds for PowerPoint

Gradient backgrounds can act as a fuel for your presentations. These are powerful templates that you can choose. This very template presents an elegant and artistic slide deck. Gradient backgrounds are basically a gradual blend of two or more colors which progress and merge from one to another. They are also known as fountain fills or blends.

Use This Template

2. Presentation Template for Business Deck

A business presentation must flow well and look clean. With this particular template you can craft professional business decks. It can help you compile all the necessary information in a professional manner.

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How to Choose the Best Colors for Your Presentations

Choosing colors for your slides is one of the most crucial decisions to make even before starting to work on your Google Slides or PowerPoint presentation. Basically, colors can help you communicate your message more effectively, and they can evoke many different feelings or emotions on your audience. Keep reading to find out how to choose the best colors for your presentation.

Color Psychology

Color temperature, neutral colors, some tips on how to combine colors for your presentation.

It is quite important to know how your audience perceives colors and how these are related to the topic you are talking about. For example, red can convey a sense of danger, but also love, depending on the context. These are some common connotations that colors have on humans:

• Red : Evokes passion and strength. It’s an energetic and intense color that represents power and determination. It’s usually present on brands related to beverages, gaming and the automotive industry.
• Blue : Conveys a sense of security, confidence, responsibility and calmness. It is the most representative color in the healthcare and finance industries.
• Yellow : This is the color of light. It is a stimulating color that conveys energy, awakes awareness and inspires creativity. You will surely find yellow in the food industry.
• Green : Undeniably, the color of nature, life and peace. This color conveys a sense of growth, balance and stability like no other. It is quite popular among big companies, especially in the energy and tech industries.
• White : It is considered the color of purity and innocence. When it comes to evoking simplicity, optimism and integrity, white is second to none. You will find it for sure in the healthcare industry, and it is making its way in the fashion industry too.
• Black : Even though black is associated with seriousness, it can also convey elegance and courage. Fashion brands and luxury products make good use this color.

Take note of these hints and try to choose the color that best suits your message. For example, in this template we used bright and vibrant colors, since it is an education-themed presentation intended for a very young audience:

Click here to download this template

Colors can be grouped based on their temperature , which can be determined by comparing any given color in the visible spectrum with the light that a black body would emit when heated at a specified temperature. So, according to their temperature, there are two groups of colors: 

• Warm colors: These range from red and orange to yellow. If you click on the footer below, you will be able to download one of our templates containing a palette full of warm colors:

• Cool colors: These range from green and blue to violet. Again, click on the footer below to download a template that contains cool colors:

Mainly, warm colors convey energy and optimism—it is like giving a warm reception to your audience. On the other hand, cool colors are associated with serenity and confidence, just what you need to have a peaceful time.

White, black and all shades of gray are not considered neither warm nor cool. In fact, we could say colors such as creme, beige, brown and others with a high amount of gray are also neutral.  These colors do not influence others and can actually be combined with almost any color. As for their meaning, elegance and solemnity are pretty much guaranteed, as well as harmony.  When combining neutral colors, oftentimes a bright color is used as a contrast to highlight certain elements and bring them to the front. Click on the footer below to see an example of a presentation with neutral colors: 

To achieve a nice color harmony and make the most of it, it is best if you take into account the color wheel, as well as the concepts of hue, saturation and brightness. 

• Hue is basically what differentiates a color from any other. Thanks to the hue, you can visually tell apart red from blue, for example.
• Brightness defines how light or dark a hue is, and measures its capacity to reflect white light.
• Saturation refers to how pure a hue is. A saturated color appears more vivid, whereas a desaturated color looks duller.

With this information, you can make several different combinations: 

• Monochromatic Color Scheme: These contain different shades of a single color. Click on the footer to see one of our monochromatic templates based on red.

• Complementary Color Scheme: These are composed of a pair of opposing colors on the color wheel. If you click on the footer below, you will be able to download a presentation template with this scheme.

Analogous Color Scheme: This scheme includes colors that are adjacent to each other on the color wheel. Click on the footer to see an example of this scheme applied to a presentation: 

Triadic Color Scheme: This uses three colors equally spaced on the color wheel. Click on the footer to download a presentation that makes use of the triadic color scheme.

In order to get the best combination, you will need to consider how many colors you will use in each slide and how you will manage the contrast between them. These should also be suitable for your intended message or your brand.   Finally, try not to overuse very intense colors—use them only for emphasis. Keep everything consistent by applying the same color to each instance of an element within your presentation (for example, use the same color in all the titles). Include illustrations or pictures that work well with the chosen palette. If you need to apply filters to the pictures, you can refer to our “ How to Apply Filters to the Pictures in Google Slides ” tutorial, or its PowerPoint equivalent. Some of our templates include color variants, making it so much easier for you to adapt them to your topic and/or brand. Just click one of the options that you will find below “Themes” on the right side of the screen. 

Selecting color variants

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How to choose the best presentation color schemes & combinations

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When designing a presentation, or even just experimenting with design, you'd be surprised at the different color combinations you can create. Choosing a color scheme is tricky, but understanding the basics of color theory allows… ... read more When designing a presentation, or even just experimenting with design, you'd be surprised at the different color combinations you can create. Choosing a color scheme is tricky, but understanding the basics of color theory allows you to develop the perfect color palette for your presentation. close

Selecting a color scheme that stirs the desired reaction in your audience is a tricky and challenging process. Unfortunately, picking out an appropriate color scheme isn’t as simple as putting together the colors you like. The color choices used in a PowerPoint presentation reflect the character and personality of your business. When the color wheel offers itself to your imagination, how do you know how to use it correctly?

We cannot underestimate the power of color. It’s a language of its own, influencing emotions and setting the mood for your presentation before you even begin to speak. Presentation slides can convey a relaxed, professional, or confident persona based on the color scheme alone.

What do colors mean?

Starting off with the tough question: what is color?

All that color comes down to is perception. When an object reflects light, it reflects different combinations of wavelengths that our brains interpret as color. And once we begin to understand color theory, we start to have a better understanding of how we perceive colors.

What is color theory?

Color theory offers a foundation for understanding the rules around color and color schemes. It is a basic guideline for mixing colors and analyzes the visual effects of how colors mix or contrast with each other.

Once you understand the logic of color, you can create and use color palettes more effectively and confidently.

Primary colors

Primary colors are colors that cannot be created by mixing colors and they are yellow, red, and blue. When it comes to creating a color palette, the primary colors anchor the color scheme. Meaning that using any one or any combination of the primary colors will place limits on your color scheme when you decide to select other colors.

Secondary colors

The secondary colors are created by mixing the purest form of any two primary colors. The three secondary colors are orange, purple, and green.

Tertiary colors

Tertiary colors take things a step further. They are created by mixing a primary color with a secondary color, making them a mix of several colors. But unlike secondary colors, they are not mixed in equal amounts.

For example, red-purple, or magenta, is a mix of red and purple, meaning it is two parts red and one part blue.

The six tertiary colors are red-purple (magenta), red-orange (vermillion), blue-purple (violet), blue-green (teal), yellow-orange (amber), and yellow-green (chartreuse).

The color theory wheel

What are the additive and subtractive color theories?

The additive and subtractive color models are systems of color reproduction related to how the eye receives light to produce colors.

The additive colors are red, green, and blue, or RGB. The RGB color models are for electronic screens like computers or TVs. It begins with black and then adds red, green, and blue light to convey a spectrum of colors. When more colors are added, the result is lighter and closer to white. With the three colors combined in equal amounts, you get white light.

Meanwhile, the subtractive color model applies to any color typically seen on a physical surface, namely paper. In this model, you subtract colors to get closer to white. The subtractive colors are cyan, magenta, yellow, and key/black (CYMK), and these are usually the colors listed on printer cartridges. When these colors are printed, they absorb the light and appear black.

How to combine colors?

Using the color wheel, we can experiment with color combinations to create original and effective color schemes. There are seven major color schemes in graphic design that designers regularly use and return to.

Warm colors

If you draw a line through the color wheel, it cleanly separates the warm and cool colors. The warm colors are reds, yellows, and oranges, and they are hues associated with energy, brightness, and action.

Cool colors

Cool colors are blues, greens, and purples, and they often connote feelings of peace, calm, and serenity.

Complementary colors

A complementary color scheme comes from combining colors that stand directly opposite each other on the color wheel (such as purple and green, orange and blue) and their respective tints.

Since this color scheme offers a strong contrast, it’s best to use one color as a dominant color and use the second color as an accent in designs. Use contrast to highlight important points in your presentation.

Split complementary colors

A split complementary color scheme features a selected base color and the two colors that neighbor that base color’s complement. The result is a versatile and nuanced color palette that is more diverse than a complementary color scheme while still maintaining a healthy and interesting contrast.

Although this color scheme is easy to achieve, it can be tricky to maintain. A split complementary scheme offers more color combinations, but it takes a bit of experimenting to find a good balance.

Triads and tetradic color combinations

A triadic color combination creates a balanced contrast by featuring three colors at an equal distance from each other on the color wheel, forming a triangle. However, it can feel overwhelming when the colors selected are bold. This can be handled by choosing one color to be the dominant one and using the others sparingly or by selecting a softer tint.

A tetradic color scheme is achieved by drawing a rectangle on the color wheel, resulting in a vibrant color scheme.

Analogous colors

Analogous colors sit next to each other on the color wheel and together create a soothing color scheme. When using analogous colors like red, yellow, and orange together, it’s best to have one color dominate, the second color support, and a third color accent.

Monochromatic colors

With a monochromatic color scheme, you choose one color and support it with its varying shades and tints. The result is a calm and consistent feel that looks polished and professional. This type of color scheme is easy to use since you only need to select one color and then use black, white, or grey to change it. 

How to choose a color scheme?

These formulas for putting together color combinations are easy to pick up with enough practice. Yet, the challenge lies in the other factors you must consider when choosing colors for your color palette, which affect the impact and effectiveness of your color scheme.

Consider the user experience

When creating a presentation, consider the audience and the purpose. For example, using a monochromatic color palette is appropriate for a professional presentation , while complementary palettes are versatile for different types of occasions.

But also remember the details; for example, a bright background could be distracting and make it hard to read the text.

Set a mood for your color scheme

What is the mood you want to convey? If you want an energetic presentation, you’re better off using brighter colors like reds and yellows. While shades of blue are great for creating a peaceful and serene mood. Or you could tone down the clutter by creating negative space in black or white.

Working with high contrast

Be clever with your use of contrast. If you’re using a dark background, use light text that your audience can read, and vice versa. It’s important to use high contrast in more professional presentations to draw the audience’s attention to the contents. Draw attention to your important points with accent colors.

Follow the 60-30-10 rule

Originally an interior design rule, the 60-30-10 principle has proved to be a great tip for graphic design . It adheres to a balance of 60% of the main color (for backgrounds), 30% of the secondary color (filling in shapes or images), and 10% for the accent colors in outlines and text.

Refer to your color wheel

Use the color wheel to your advantage. Refer to it constantly to select color combinations of different color schemes. Sometimes, a color scheme that may look good in theory might not work with your presentation. It takes several tests to find a scheme that resonates with your personality and serves your presentation.

Draft multiple designs

As with any creative endeavor, there is no way to find out how your ideas will work without drafting and experimenting. In your quest of finding the appropriate color scheme, you need to create multiple drafts with your palette suggestions and see which works best. It’s good to step away from your work and sleep on it to refresh your perspective.

Keep it simple

Don’t overthink it. Keep your color scheme simple. A monochromatic palette is a great starting point for beginners since you’d only be working with one color. For more advanced users, try not to work with more than four colors; anchor your design in one dominant color and use the others for support.

Avoid unnecessary usage of color

Exercise restraint. Not every instance will need an explosion of color. For example, in a chart with only two variables, heights, and length suffice as differentiating factors. But when a third or fourth variable is introduced, then the color becomes necessary to emphasize or highlight differences.

Be consistent with color across charts

When using multiple charts and graphs, make sure to be consistent throughout the presentation when referring to the same groups. It keeps the document neat and organized and helps the reader follow along.

Leverage the meaningfulness of color

Different colors hold different meanings and symbolism. If you’re using color in graphs to represent certain groups, then keep in mind the colors they are typically associated with to make it easier for a reader to follow.

A general rule to follow is avoiding high color brightness and saturation or at least keeping them to highlight a particular element. 

Attend to color blindness

Be inclusive of those with color blindness. The most common form of color blindness causes those afflicted to confuse red and green, and less commonly the confusion between yellow and blue. So use variety in the lightness and saturation to differentiate between colors rather than relying only on hue.

Sites like Coblis have color blindness simulators to help you get an idea of how your visuals will look and if there are potential ambiguities.

Types of color palettes

When it comes to data visualization, color is a necessary component in visual aids such as charts and elements. Misusing color could be distracting or confusing, but using color productively helps you tell the story you want to tell. Depending on the data you want to convey, there are different types of color palettes to consider.

Qualitative palette

A qualitative palette is used when the information presented deals with categorical variables such as age groups, countries, race, etc. In a qualitative palette, a distinct color is assigned to each variable or group.

A qualitative palette relies on the colors to differentiate between several variables, so try to limit the palette to no more than ten colors. Any more would create confusion in distinguishing between groups. Play around with hues, lightness, and saturation to create distinctiveness between colors.

It’s also important to maintain overall cohesion to not create unintentional bias by highlighting certain variables more than others.

Sequential palette

A sequential palette is used when the variables are numeric and typically portrayed sequentially. Often in a sequential palette, the lightness or hues are the distinguishing factors between variables.

The use of lightness is the most recognizable form of a sequential palette, which is why a single hue could be used. Low values are connoted with lighter colors, while darker colors are used for higher values. Otherwise, it is recommended to use two adjacent colors from a warm or cool palette.

Diverging palette

A diverging palette is applied when numeric variables have a central value (like zero). It’s useful to think of a diverging palette as two sequential palettes meeting at a middle point. The two sides are assigned two distinctive colors, and as with sequential palettes, lightness is used to portray distance from the central value.

Discrete vs. continuous palette

Sequential and diverging color palettes interact with data values with either discrete colors akin to a numerical value or through a continuous fading function between the variable and color.

Often, the process of creating color palettes follows the first method of using discrete or distinct colors, even though it would make sense to use a continuous color function to communicate the relationship between values.

However, people distinguish details such as length or position more quickly than they do color differences. So discrete palettes highlight patterns in the data, and we can set a clearer range within a discrete palette. While on a continuous palette, data would be pushed into a narrower range.

How to create a color scheme for your presentation

With the variety of color schemes and color palettes possible, where do you even begin creating your own? There are many variables involved in building a color scheme for your presentation, so start at the root and select colors appropriate for your goal. You can also reach out to our team for their presentation design (and palette-making) expertise.

Our presentation design services

Pick your colors

Building a color scheme begins with selecting colors that fit your purpose and mood. The process of picking colors is simplified once you can select a base color to build on.

The dominant color

Visual language is very effective in creating a subconscious connection and resonating with your audience. So begin by selecting a dominant color that encapsulates your beliefs and best represents your topic and niche to create the base for your color palette.

The secondary color

A secondary color supports your scheme’s dominant color and makes it stand out more.

The accent color

Accent colors are used to contrast and emphasize points in a presentation. Complementary colors make for perfect accent colors as they offer a bold contrast that attracts the eye. Accent colors are meant to be used sparingly to not overwhelm the viewer.

Keep colors in balance

Maintain a balance with your color palette and diversify the use of colors in highlighting text or brightening slides. Apply the 60-30-10 rule to your dominant, secondary, and accent colors.

Use the theme color palette

When creating your presentation, take advantage of the theme palette feature in PowerPoint and Google Slides. This tool allows you easy access to your color palette and lets you quickly change the colors of text and elements in your presentation at once without having to do them individually.

Use the tools at your disposal

There are several tools available for building a color scheme and using color palettes in presentation and design software. Use them to create a cohesive and engaging color scheme to be used in your presentations.

Tools and resources for using colors

By now, you should have a pretty good idea of color theory and how to build a color scheme. However, that shouldn’t discourage you from using tools and resources that help you speed up the process of selecting the perfect color scheme for your presentation.

Data Color Picker

Data Color Picker is a great tool for generating color schemes for sequential and diverging palettes. Often, some hues are left out between the two endpoints of a sequential palette, but Data Color Picker has a default tab for palettes that is perfect for generating multi-hued palettes.

Chroma.js Color Palette Helper

This tool has detailed options for crafting a color palette, with options for the type of palette desired (sequential, diverging), correcting lightness, and a color blindness simulator. These features of the chroma.js Color Palette Helper allow for more refined and cohesive palettes.

Color Thief

Since there aren’t many tools for creating qualitative palettes, you could extract potential color palettes from images with colors that resemble your intended mood. Color Thief is a tool that lets you generate a color palette from your own uploaded pictures. Although you would need to tweak your options to create an appropriate palette, Color Thief is a great starting point.

Viz Palette

Similar to Coblis, Viz Palette is a color palette tool that allows you to see how your palettes are perceived by individuals with different color perception deficiencies and color contexts. Furthermore, you can alter the color palette instantly in the tool.

Adobe Color

Adobe Color is a free Adobe tool for building color palettes based on different schemes and combinations. Moreover, it offers premade color schemes to play around with, use in your presentation, and even save if you’re an Adobe user.

Illustrator Color Guide

In the Illustrator Color Guide, you could generate a 5-color scheme along with its tints and shades based on the one color you select. And with preset modes, you could select the type of color scheme you want to create. You can save your color palettes to return to them in future presentations.

Preset Color Guides

Chances are, you’re familiar with Microsoft Office products. Well, did you know that all of the Office softwares have preset color schemes that you can use for your projects? In PowerPoint, you can find the color schemes in the Colors menu in the Slide Master view. You could select an option or customize your own.

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Microsoft 365 Life Hacks > Presentations > What is a Color Wheel?

What is a Color Wheel?

Create beautiful presentations with the help of a color wheel. Understand how a color wheel is designed and how to choose appealing color schemes.

A color wheel shows the relationship between colors and the progression of the color spectrum. It’s a visual representation of color theory. There are two different types of color wheel. RYB, which stands for red, yellow, blue, is used by those who create physical art. The other is RGB, which means red, green, blue, is for digital use and refers to mixing light on a computer screen. Both color wheels have twelve colors, but they differ based on the type of wheel you’re using.

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• RYB color wheel colors: Red, red-orange, orange, yellow-orange, yellow, yellow-green, green, blue-green, blue, blue-violet, violet, red-violet
• RGB color wheel colors: Red, orange, yellow, chartreuse green, green, spring green, cyan, azure, blue, violet, magenta, and rose

Color printers need to express the full color spectrum so they use cyan, magenta, yellow, and black inks. These can combine to form a range of colors, including blue, yellow, and red.

Color Wheel Primary Colors

• Primary colors are the foundation of the color wheel. When combined in different measure, they create all other colors. In the digital RGB color wheel, blending all three primary colors will create white light.
• RYB primary colors: red, yellow, blue
• RGB primary colors: red, green, blue

Color Wheel Secondary Colors

Secondary colors are the result when two primary colors are mixed. Each color wheel has three secondary colors.

• RYB secondary colors: orange, green, purple
• RGB secondary colors: yellow, cyan, magenta

It’s important to remember that in the RGB color wheel, you’re mixing light and not paint or colored pencils.

Color Wheel Tertiary Colors

When you blend a secondary color with a primary color, a tertiary color is created on the color wheel. Each color wheel has six tertiary colors:

• RYB tertiary colors: red-orange, yellow-orange, yellow-green, blue-green, blue-violet, red-violet
• RGB tertiary colors: orange, chartreuse green, spring green, azure, violet, rose

Other Aspects of Color Theory

You were likely introduced to color theory at a very young age when you learned that red and blue make purple. However, color theory also involves how dark or light a color is, whether or not the color has shades of gray, or how saturated the color is. You may have also learned about how to pair colors, and how colors may evoke emotional responses.

For instance, complementary colors are located opposite each other on a color wheel. When complementary colors are paired together, the result is a high-contrast combination that draws the eye. In an RYB color wheel, an example would be red and green, or purple and yellow. In a RGB color wheel, complementary colors are a little different. Instead of green, the compliment to red in the RGB wheel is cyan.

Monochromatic color schemes occur when someone bases a design around different shades, tones, and tints of a single color. A shade is formed by adding black to a base color, which lends depth and darkness. A tint is created when you add white to that same base color, lightening it. When you add gray to a color, you create a tone. Shades, tints, and tones help to show the depth of a color and can be used to create intense and vivid works of art or presentations.

Other color combinations in design include:

• Analogous: Three colors that exist side-by-side on a color wheel. This scheme can be overwhelming, so allowing one color to be the focus will make it seem less busy. However, when applied correctly, these color scheme can be incredibly harmonious, because all three colors share some commonalities. For example, red paired with red-orange and orange can look lovely if one color is allowed to shine while the others accent.
• Triadic: Three colors on a color wheel that are evenly spaced apart. The result is high contrast, bold, and vibrant. A basic example of this is orange, green, and purple. A designer who allows one color to be the focal point in the color scheme may find that this color combination is incredibly versatile.

Color temperature is another aspect of color to consider. Warm and cool undertones can change the way your art or design is perceived. Warm colors—red, orange, and yellow—are typically associated with daylight, while cool tones—green, blue, and purple—are associated with overcast light. Experiment with how different shades of warm and cool colors go together and change the tone of your design.

There’s also color context to consider. When two similar shades of dark purple are placed next to each other, neither will truly stand out. However, if those dark purples are broken up with a bright yellow or yellow-green, the differences may become more apparent. While each color can certainly stand alone, how it is perceived by the individual may depend on what other colors are nearby. When decorating a home, choosing an outfit, or creating a presentation, this is an important thing to keep in mind.

Colors also can make people feel a certain way. Red may invoke strong feelings like anger or passion, while bright yellow flowers can make people feel happy and cheerful. If you enter a room with plain light blue walls, you may feel more relaxed than if you entered a room with neon yellow walls. Of course, each person’s perception of color is different, but spas and meditative spaces are typically painted in dreamy shades of light blue, cream, and gray because they promote relaxation. A gym might be painted in brighter, bolder colors because it’s a space that encourages effort and energy.

Consider the color wheel and color theory when designing your next presentation —you’ll be sure to capture your audience’s attention with an eye-catching palette.

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• Color Palettes
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Color Wheel

Complementary, split complementary.

A color wheel is a visual representation of colors arranged according to their chromatic relationship. It is a circular diagram where colors are typically organized according to their hue. The primary purpose of a color wheel is to show the relationship between different hues and to give guidance on color harmony and the creation of color schemes.

• - Comprised of two colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel.
• - Creates a high contrast and vibrant look.
• - Examples: Blue and orange, red and green, purple and yellow.
• - Involves colors that are next to each other on the color wheel.
• - Usually matches well and creates serene and comfortable designs.
• - Often includes one dominant color, with the others supporting.
• - Examples: Red, orange, and red-orange; blue, blue-green, and green.
• - A variation of the complementary color scheme but with less tension.
• - Includes one base color and the two colors adjacent to its complementary.
• - Offers strong visual contrast, but with more nuance than a straight complementary scheme.
• - Examples: Blue, yellow-orange, and red-orange.
• - A triadic color scheme involves three colors that are evenly spaced on the color wheel, creating an equilateral triangle.
• - This scheme is very popular and offers visual contrast while retaining balance and color richness.
• - Examples: Red, yellow, and blue; orange, green, and purple.
• - The square color scheme includes four colors evenly spaced on the color wheel, forming a square.
• - Offers plenty of contrast while still retaining harmony.
• - It’s crucial to balance the colors well, as this scheme can be overwhelming if not managed carefully.
• - Examples: Red, green, cyan, and violet.
• - Similar to the square but with colors forming a rectangle on the color wheel.
• - It utilizes two pairs of complementary colors, but with one color dominating and the others serving as accents.
• - Examples: Blue, orange, red-orange, and blue-green.

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30+ Stylish PowerPoint Color Schemes 2024

Color is an element that can make or break a design, and that rule holds true for presentation design as well. Choosing the right PowerPoint color scheme is super important.

But there’s one extra thing to consider – where your presentation will be given. A PowerPoint presentation can look quite different on a computer or tablet versus on a projected screen.

When it comes to selecting a PowerPoint color scheme, this is an important consideration. We’ve rounded nearly stylish PowerPoint color schemes as inspiration. While darker color schemes might look great close-up on screens, opt for lighter backgrounds (for enhanced readability) for projected presentations.

Note: The last color in each scheme is for the slide background.

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1. Blue, Gray Green & Orange

With a bright overall scheme that’s easy on the eyes, this color scheme can help you create a modern PowerPoint presentation that’s readable and friendly. You can even tweak the colors somewhat to better work with your brand, if necessary.

The best thing about this color palette is that it lends itself to plenty of different presentation styles and applications.

2. Violet Gradient

Using the first two colors noted above, you can create a dark-to-light monotone gradient that can make for a modern PowerPoint design style.

Take this concept and expand it to any other colors you like for your spin on this modern color scheme.

3. Mint and Orange

On paper, these colors don’t seem to blend all that well, but with the right application min and orange on a black background can work.

Use a pair of colors like this for presentations where you are trying to make a bold statement or impact. This concept is often great for trendy topics or ideas that are a little unconventional.

4. Bright Blue and Light

The brighter, the better! Bright blue color schemes are a major trend in PowerPoint design … and for good reason. The color combination creates a bright, light feel with easy readability. Those are two things that pretty much everyone wants in a presentation template design.

The other thing that’s great about a color scheme like this – which focuses on one color – is that it matches practically everything else in the design with ease. It’s great for image-heavy presentations or those where text elements are a key focal point.

5. Teal and Lime

Two colors that you might not expect to see paired create a classy combo that’s interesting and engaging. Both teal and lime are considered “new neutrals” and work with a variety of colors easily. (What’s somewhat unexpected is putting them together.)

What’s great about this PowerPoint color scheme is that the extra interest from the hues can help generate extra attention for slides. The template in the example also mixes and matches teal and green primary color blocks to keep it interesting from slide to slide.

6. Colorful Gradients

Gradients are a color trend that just keeps reinventing and resurfacing. In the latest iteration, gradients are bright with a lot of color. Designers are working across the color wheel for gradients that have more of a rainbow effect throughout the design, even if individual gradients are more subtle.

What you are likely to see is a variety of different gradients throughout a project with different colors, but maybe a dominant color to carry the theme. Use this for presentation designs that are meant to be more fun, lighter, and highly engaging.

7. Light Blue Minimal

This color scheme with light blue and a minimal aesthetic is super trendy and so easy to read. You can add a lot of style with a black-and-white style for images or a deep blue accent for header text.

While a pale blue is ideal here, you could also consider experimenting with other pastels and the same overall theme for a modern presentation design.

8. Bright with Dark Background

The combination of bright colors on a dark background can be fun and quite different from the traditional PowerPoint color schemes that are often on white or light backgrounds. This design style for a presentation is bold and engaging but can be a challenge if you aren’t comfortable with that much color.

When you use a style like this, it is important to think about the presentation environment to ensure that everything will look as intended. A design like this, for example, can work well on screens, but not as well on a projector or in a large room.

9. Navy and Orange

The navy and orange color combination is stylish and classic for presentation design. To add a fresh touch consider some of the effects such as the template above, with color blocking and overlays to add extra interest.

What makes this color combination pop is the element of contrast between a dark and a bright pair. The navy here is almost a neutral hue and works with almost any other design element.

10. Dark and Light Green

A modern take on a monotone color scheme involves using two similar colors that aren’t exactly tints and tones of one another. This pairing of dark green and light (almost minty) green does precisely that.

What’s nice about this color scheme is that the colors can be used almost interchangeably as primary elements or accents. It provides a lot of flexibility in the presentation design.

11. Bright Crystal Blue

Blue presentation color schemes will always be in style. The only thing that changes is the variance of the hue. This pair of blues – a bright crystal blue with a darker teal – works in almost the same way as the pair of greens above.

What’s nice about this color palette though is that the dark color is the accent here. That’s a modern twist on color design for presentations.

12. Blue and Yellow

Blue and yellow are classic pairings and can make for a striking presentation color combination. With a bright white background, these hues stand out in a major way.

What works here is the element of contrast. A darker blue with a brighter yellow creates an almost yin and yang effect with color. The only real caution is to take care with yellow on a white or light background with fonts or other light elements.

Teal is a personality-packed color choice. If you are looking for a bold statement with a PowerPoint template, start here.

While the above color scheme also includes a hint of yellow for accents, the teal color option is strong enough to stand alone. You could consider a tint or tone for a mono-look. It also pairs amazingly well with black-and-white images.

Teal is a fun color option that will provide a lot of practical use with your slide deck.

14. Bright Coral

This color scheme is one of those that you will either love or hate. The bright coral color is powerful and generates an immediate reaction.

It’s also quite trendy and will stand out from many of the other more bland PowerPoint colors that you may encounter. This is a great option for a startup that wants to present with a bang or a brand that has a similar color in its palette. It may not work so well for more traditional brands or those that are more conservative with their slide designs.

15. Dark Mode Colors

A dark mode color scheme might be the biggest trend in all of design right now, and that also applies to presentation design.

This purple and emerald color paired with black with white text looks amazing. It is sleek, modern, and has high visual appeal without having to use a lot of images.

This works best for digital presentations when you don’t have concerns about room lighting to worry about.

If you aren’t ready to jump into dark mode on your own, the Harber template above is a great start with nice color, gradients, and interesting shapes throughout the slide types.

16. Navy and Lime

A navy and lime combination is a modern take on colorful neutrals that are anything but boring.

These colors have a nice balance with a white or light background and are fairly easy to use. With so many brands already using blue in their base color palette, this is an option that works and is an extension of existing elements for many brands. (Use your blue and add the lime to it.)

Also, with this color combination, the idea of a minimal overall slide structure is nice so that the power of the colors and impact comes through. They work beside images in full color or black and white.

17. Modern Blue

When you aren’t planning to use brand colors – or maybe as a startup or independent contractor so you don’t have them yet – a modern color combination can add the right flair to a PowerPoint presentation.

The bright grayish-blue in the Lekro PowerPoint template – you can find it here – adds the right amount of color without overwhelming the content. Plus, subtle orange accents help guide the eye throughout this PowerPoint color scheme. https://elements.envato.com/lekro-powerpoint-presentation-67YW3M

18. Blackish and Yellow

While at first pass, black and yellow might seem like a harsh color combination, it can set the tone for a project that should emanate strength. This PowerPoint color scheme softens the harshness of the duo with a blackish color, that’s grayer and has a softer feel.

Pair this combo on a light background or with black and white images for a stylish, mod look.

19. Orange and White

A bright color can soften the harshness of a stark PowerPoint design. Especially when used for larger portions of the content area, such as background swatches or to help accent particular elements.

The Sprint template makes great use of color with a simple palette – orange and white with black text – but has slide ideas that incorporate the color throughout for something with a more “designed” look to it. (And if you aren’t a fan of the orange, change the color for use with this template to keep the modern feel.)

Purple presentations are in. The color, which was once avoided by many in design projects, has flourished with recent color trends.

Because more funky, bright colors are popular, a presentation with a purple focus can be acceptable for a variety of uses. The use in Batagor template has a modern design with a deep header in the featured color, which works best with images that aren’t incredibly bold in terms of color.

21. Blue-Green Gradients

Another trending item in color is the use of gradients. This trend can be applied to PowerPOint presentations as well.

Use a blue-to-green gradient for a soft and harmonious color scheme that won’t get in the way of content. Use each hue alone for accents and informational divots throughout the presentation design.

22. Black and White

Minimalism is a design trend that never goes away. A black-and-white (or gray) presentation screams class and sophistication.

It can also be easy to work with when you don’t want the color to get in the way of your message. And if a design can stand alone without color, you know it works.

23. Reds and Black

If you are designing a presentation for viewing on screens, such as desktops or tablets, a dark background with bright color accents and white text can work well. (This combination gets a lot trickier on projector displays.)

While reverse text and red aren’t always recommended, you can see from the Nova template that they can be a stunning combination. But note, this modern color scheme is best for specific content and audiences.

24. Blue and Pink

This color scheme is a spin on Pantone’s colors of the year from 2016. https://designshack.net/articles/graphics/how-to-use-the-pantone-color-of-the-year-in-design-projects/ The brighter, bolder versions of rose quartz and serenity and fun and sophisticated.

The unexpected combo sets the tone with a strong, trustworthy blue and adds softness with the paler pink. The colors work equally well with white or darker backgrounds.

25. Blue and Green

Blue and green accents can help a black or white background come to life in a presentation template. The colors here can work with either background style, based on how you plan to display your presentation.

What’s nice about these colors is that they are pretty neutral – since both are found in nature – and can be used with ease for design or text elements in a PowerPoint color scheme.

26. Beige and Gray

If you are looking for a softer color palette, consider beige and gray. These hues can work well on screens or projected, making them a versatile option.

The nice thing about such a neutral palette is that it gives content plenty of room, so that will be the true focus of the presentation.

27. Tints and Tones

While the purplish blue-gray in the Business PowerPoint Presentation template is stunning, it represents a greater trend in presentation design. Pick a color – maybe your dominant brand color – and use tints and tones for the presentation color scheme.

By mixing the color with white or black and gray, you’ll end up with a stunning set of color variations that match your messaging.

28. Bold Rainbow

While most of the color schemes featured here only include a color or two, bright color schemes with wider color variations are trending.

This distinct “rainbow style” can be somewhat difficult to use without rules for each color. Proceed with caution.

29. Bright Neutrals

Lime green is the brightest “neutral” you might ever use. A fun palette that’s versatile can be a solid foundation for a color palette.

It works exceptionally well in the Rouka PowerPoint template thanks to a pairing with a subtle gray background. Using a light, but not white, background can be great for screens and projected presentations because it takes away some of the harshness of a white background. The subtle coloring is easier on the eyes for reading and viewing.

30. Rich Browns

Browns aren’t often what comes to mind when thinking of building a color scheme, but rich browns can be a modern option.

Pair a neutral beige-brown with a darker color for an interesting contrast that works with almost any style of content.

31. Mint Green

Go super trendy with a modern and streamlined palette of mint green and gray on white. While this combination can have a minimal feel, it also adds a touch of funkiness to the design.

Add another hint of color – think orange – for extra accents.

32. Dark Gray and Blue

It doesn’t get more classy than a combination of grays and blues. This new take on a classic color scheme adds another brighter blue as well to pick up on modern trends.

Just be careful with text using a dark background such as this one. White is probably your best option for typography (and look for a font with thicker strokes!)

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Color Theory

Introduction to Color Theory

Basic Color Theory

Color Theory consists of three basic categories of color theory: The color wheel, color harmony, and context of how colors are used.

The Color Wheel

A color circle, based on red, yellow, and blue, is traditional in the field of art. The color wheel is a logically arranged sequence of pure hues.

Primary Colors

Red, Yellow, Blue are the primary colors in traditional color theory. These are three pigments that can not be mixed or formed by any combination of other colors. All other colors are derived from these three hues.

Secondary Colors

Green, Orange, and purple. These are the colors formed by mixing the primary colors.

Tertiary Colors

Yellow-orange, red-orange, red-purple, blue-purple, blue-green, & yellow-green. These are the colors formed by mixing a primary and a secondary color.

Color Harmony

Color harmony is an arrangement of colors in a pleasing way. Color harmonies include analogous, monochromatic, triad, and complementary.

Analogous Color

Analogous color schemes use colors that are next to each other on the color wheel. They usually match well and create comfortable designs.

Monochromatic

Monochromatic colors are all the colors (tints, tones, and shades) of a single hue. Monocromatic schemes are derived from a single base hue and extended using its shades, tones, and tints. Tints are achieved by adding white and shades and tones are achieved by adding a darker color, gray or black.

Choose one color to dominate, a second to support, and the third color is used as an accent. A triadic color schemes uses colors that are evenly spaced around the color wheel.

Complementary

Complementary colors are pairs of colors that are directly opposite of each other on the spectrum.

Color Context

Color context is how color is perceived when combined with other colors. The rectangle on the left has a red tinge and the rectangle on the right has a blue tinge to it. These two rectangles are the same color but because of their surrounding colors they look different.

Adobe Color CC

This Color Organization tool is available online color.adobe.com and also as an add on in Photoshop.

In the website you can import your color scheme to Adobe Photoshop.

Exposure Control

Exposure is a balance between ISO, Shutter Speed, and Aperture to achieve a correct exposure.

Change Shutter Speed

To change shutter speed turn the wheel located in front of the shutter release. As the wheel is turned the shutter speed should change on the camera menu.

Change Aperture

To change Aperture, press AV+/- and turn the wheel located in front of the shutter release. As the wheel is turned the Aperture should change on the camera menu.

White Balance

Light sources shine with different color qualities. Direct Sunlight is very blue, while tungsten light is very orange. We perceive these sources of light and automatically adjust to the proper color of the object. Blue looks blue in sunlight or in a lamp lit room. Your eyes can understand these lighting conditions.

Qualities of Light

White Balance is a setting in the camera that calibrates the color of light read by the sensor. The idea behind white balance is if the camera can reproduce white accurately then it will be able to reproduce any other color accurately.

Lighting Environments

Every time you enter a new lighting environment, you need to consider the best options to white balance for that light. Automatic white balance looks for the brightest point in the shot and assumes that point is white. Then it corrects the white balance to the point. Different situations may confuse your camera and you may have poor results from your white balance in automatic.

Manually Setting White Balance

Manually setting your white balance to the given lighting situation is more accurate than your automatic setting. Your camera comes with a variety of situations preprogrammed. However, you cannot always assume that your lighting situation matches what the setting was tuned to. Especially for mixed lighting conditions you should use manual white balance.

Manually setting your white balance, white paper. Use a white piece of paper as your white object and hold it in the scene with the light that will be lighting your subject lighting your paper. Take a picture, then select custom white balance in the menu and select this picture.

Bad White Balance

Do not plan on correcting bad white balance in post production. While it is possible to make white balance correction, especially while shooting in RAW, these corrections are not as accurate as shooting with a proper white balance to begin with.

White Balance Correction

Bad white balance affect all the colors in an image differently and makes it difficult to correct the image after the fact. Bottom line is that it is simpler to shoot with correct white balance the first time so you do not have to spend time making corrections later in post production.

RAW images allow corrections to be made when opened. This includes changing their white balance and exposure. This file type allows a greater amount of flexibility with our image and maintains the images resolution and integrity. This file type does not compress the image size so they are generally a larger file size. These also allow for editing flexibility and allows for changes to be made to the file as if they were applied when the camera took the picture.

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Color Wheel Powerpoint Templates

Color wheel

Transcript: The color wheel or color circle is the basic tool for combining colors. The first circular color diagram was designed by Sir Isaac Newton in 1666. Primary colors color theory, these are the 3 pigment colors that can not be mixed or formed by any combination of other colors. Blue,Yellow,Red Secondary colors These are the colors formed by mixing the primary colors. Orange,Green,Purple Tertiary colos These are the colors formed by mixing a primary and a secondary color. That's why the hue is a two word name, such as blue-green, red-violet, and yellow-orange. There are six tertiary colors; red-orange, yellow-orange, yellow-green, blue-green,blue-violet, and red-violet. Over the years, many variations of the basic design have been made, but the most common version is a wheel of 12 colors Warm colors Warm colors are vivid and energetic, and tend to advance in space. Cool colors Cool colors give an impression of calm, and create a soothing impression. Neutral colors Gray, Brown. These aren't on most color wheels, but they're considered neutral because they don't contrast with much of anything. They're dull and uneventful. Color Schemes Split Complementary Double Complementary Color scheme uses three colors. It combines one color on each side of its complement. Color scheme uses colors that are next to each other on the color wheel Color scheme uses tints and shades of one color on the color wheel Color scheme uses any three hues that are an equal distance apart on the color wheel. Complementary Triadic Monochromatic Color scheme uses four colors that are equal distance apart from each other on the color wheel Analogous Color scheme uses tow colors that are directly opposite each other on the color wheel

Transcript: COLOR WHEEL! RED JACKET RED ORANGE LOCKER ORANGE T-SHIRT YELLOW ORANGE LEAF YELLOW COACH P'S SHIRT YELLOW GREEN CLOVERS GREEN LEAVES BLUE GREEN T-SHIRT BLUE SKY BLUE VIOLET LOCK VIOLET GERDLES' SWEATSHIRT RED VIOLET HALL PASS

PowerPoint Game Templates

Transcript: Example of a Jeopardy Template By: Laken Feeser and Rachel Chapman When creating without a template... http://www.edtechnetwork.com/powerpoint.html https://www.thebalance.com/free-family-feud-powerpoint-templates-1358184 Example of a Deal or No Deal Template PowerPoint Game Templates There are free templates for games such as jeopardy, wheel of fortune, and cash cab that can be downloaded online. However, some templates may cost more money depending on the complexity of the game. Classroom Games that Make Test Review and Memorization Fun! (n.d.). Retrieved February 17, 2017, from http://people.uncw.edu/ertzbergerj/msgames.htm Fisher, S. (n.d.). Customize a PowerPoint Game for Your Class with These Free Templates. Retrieved February 17, 2017, from https://www.thebalance.com/free-powerpoint-games-for-teachers-1358169 1. Users will begin with a lot of slides all with the same basic graphic design. 2. The, decide and create a series of questions that are to be asked during the game. 3. By hyper linking certain answers to different slides, the game jumps from slide to slide while playing the game. 4. This kind of setup is normally seen as a simple quiz show game. Example of a Wheel of Fortune Template https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Wheel-of-Riches-PowerPoint-Template-Plays-Just-Like-Wheel-of-Fortune-383606 Games can be made in order to make a fun and easy way to learn. Popular game templates include: Family Feud Millionaire Jeopardy and other quiz shows. http://www.free-power-point-templates.com/deal-powerpoint-template/ Quick video on template "Millionaire" PowerPoint Games Some games are easier to make compared to others If users are unsure whether or not downloading certain templates is safe, you can actually make your own game by just simply using PowerPoint. add logo here References Example of a Family Feud Template PowerPoint Games are a great way to introduce new concepts and ideas You can create a fun, competitive atmosphere with the use of different templates You can change and rearrange information to correlate with the topic or idea being discussed. Great with students, workers, family, etc. For example: With games like Jeopardy and Family Feud, players can pick practically any answers. The person who is running the game will have to have all of the answers in order to determine if players are correct or not. However, with a game like Who Wants to be a Millionaire, the players only have a choice between answers, A, B, C, or D. Therefore, when the player decides their answer, the person running the game clicks it, and the game will tell them whether they are right or wrong.

Color Wheel

Transcript: Occur when you mix any 2 Primary Colors: Red+Yellow=Orange Yellow+Blue=Green Blue+Red=Violet RED YELLOW BLUE Do you know how to make new colors? Assignment Secondary Colors Wow!!! These colors are hyphenated! Occur when you mix a primary color with a secondary color: Yellow-Green Yellow-Orange Blue-Green Blue-Violet Red-Violet Red-Orange Colors on the Color Wheel Intermediate Colors Practice mixing the 12 colors of the color wheel Create a color wheel that has all 12 Place the colors in their correct order Underneath your color wheel create a painting that uses all 12 in a creative way. Primary Colors

Transcript: What is COLOR? Color is made of Pigments... So how are the colors made? (Now that we have pigment and light) Red- Primary Yellow- Primary Blue- Primary make up all the other colors? HOW??? The End...... or is it???? Primary... Tertiary... Colors made of Primary+ Secondary And 1 more key ingredient... So primary colors Secondary...Primary+Primary

Transcript: Violet Blue is a primary color. Blue represents formal/royalty. Yellow Green Blue-Violet is a cross between Blue and Violet. It is calm-sadness Green is secondary color. It works well with Blue and Yellow. Green represents Nature. Orange Is a secondary color. It represents creativity and optimistic. Blue By: Alex.B, Kelly, and Kendra Red-orange Yellow-green Yellow-green is a mix between yellow and green. It represents Jealousy and Cowardice. Blue-violet Yellow-orange is a mix between yellow and orange. Yellow-orange represents generosity. Red is a primary color. It works well together with orange to create red-orange. It also works well together with Violet to create red-violet. Red also represents Anger! Blue-green Red-orange is a mix between red and orange. It represents Passion. Color Wheel Violet is a secondary color. It works well together with Red and Blue. Violet is luxury. Red-violet This presentation is to inform students on the color wheel!!! Yellow-orange Orange Represents delicate love. Made by combining Red and Violet. RED Blue-green is a cross between Blue and Green. Blue green represents water/nature. Yellow is a primary color and works well with violet. It represents Brightness, happiness, and energy.

Transcript: Color Listen to insrtuctions! Assignment Secondary Hues Person # 2: Take paint trays to the paint rack. Clean Up Instructions Color Scheme Primary Hues Shades Create your secondary colors buy mixing your primary colors Add Black Dip your brush into the water and then onto the tempera cakes. Use the brush in a gentle way. Do not push down on the bristles. Value? Analogous Wait until I call your table to bring your painting and put it on the drying rack. Create tints and shades of one color. Create a color wheel using primary hues and secondary hues. Monochromatic Hue Intermediate Hues In art, value is the lightness or darkness of a hue. Complementary Tints Try to mix on the palette. More water = light colors Less water = bright colors Add White Another name for color Painting 101 Create an intermediate hue by mixing one primary hue and one secondary hue that sit together on the color wheel. Person # 4: Dump out water in the sink and stack the water cups next to the sink. Person # 6: Place brushes in the large water tub next to the sink.

color wheel

Transcript: The color wheel or color circle is the basic tool for combining colors. The first circular color diagram was designed by Sir Isaac Newton in 1666. Primary colors color theory, these are the 3 pigment colors that can not be mixed or formed by any combination of other colors. Blue,Yellow,Red Secondary colors These are the colors formed by mixing the primary colors. Orange,Green,Purple Tertiary colos These are the colors formed by mixing a primary and a secondary color. That's why the hue is a two word name, such as blue-green, red-violet, and yellow-orange. There aresix tertiary colors; red-orange, yellow-orange, yellow-green, blue-green,blue-violet, and red-violet. Over the years, many variations of the basic design have been made, but the most common version is a wheel of 12 colors Warm colors Warm colors are vivid and energetic, and tend to advance in space. Cool colors Cool colors give an impression of calm, and create a soothing impression. Neutral colors Gray, Brown. These aren't on most color wheels, but they're considered neutral because they don't contrast with much of anything. They're dull and uneventful.

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