It inspired Van Gogh in his paintings, pushed Lance Armstrong to pedal hard in the Tour de France, and is used for emergency and caution signs around the world. It encourages communication and activates memory, yet also symbolizes cowardice, quarantine, and the last thing you want to see, if you’re a major sports player, is the yellow card.

We’re talking one color, yellow, with many shades of meaning; some so polar opposite as ‘happiness’ and ‘hazard’ that I sometimes wonder if we’re the ones who’ve gone a little color blind. I mean, its just one color, right? Well yes, and no.

If color theory was simple, not only would I be looking for another career, so would every other designer, painter, artist, and decorator. And decisions to paint the second bedroom sunshine or spring yellow wouldn’t result in a public Sunday afternoon brawl at the local hardware store (admit it, we’ve all been there.)

So while understanding that yellow is the first color to be seen by the human eye, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the right color for your brand or next campaign. How it feels, what does it taste like, is there a yellow song, and how it is remembered in the context of its surroundings – these are important questions, not just for yellow but for all colors of the spectrum.

Color theory not only asks how color works, such as additive RGB or subtractive CMYK, it aims to guide the creation of a harmonious color combination. Yet from the early notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci and Isaac Newton’s early color wheels to present day online color tools, considering the color for your logo, brand, or campaign remains a fun part of the creative process.

And its not like we’re about to run out of color combinations anytime soon. The human eye can distinguish over 2.8 million different hues. I’m no math wiz but picking two or three unique colors that work well together, and resonate with your audience, that might just take more than a Sunday afternoon in the paint section.

And to add to the natural and psychological associations that each of us have with color, why not throw in some cultural meanings as well. Did you know in Japan, yellow represents courage? Or that in China, adult movies are known as ‘yellow’. And in warm-hearted Mexico, marigold yellow can be associated with death?

Well for more fascinating reading on the meaning of yellow and color theory, I highly recommend a visit to  http://www.colormatters.com/color-and-design/basic-color-theory

and for more info on the history of the colour wheel please visit http://www.colorlovers.com//blog/2008/05/08/history-of-the-wheel