Using Colour in Product Photography.
The process of deciding what colour background a product should have seems like an easy unconsidered action, however this is not the case. Colour theory is a series of guidelines which allow designers to communicate with the users through colour schemes. This theory explores the relationship between colours and how they are perceived, which ultimately helps the engagement of others and sometimes, mostly in paintings, help to accentuate a story. For product photography, colour theory is not the most important thing, however it is important for the viewers engagement, especially advertisement photography. To help the visual arts distinguish these colours, the colour wheel is used in order to recognise different combinations and schemes.
The Colour Wheel (Scott, DS (2017). A Comprehensive Guide to Colour Theory for Artists [Diagram]. Draw Paint Academy . https://drawpaintacademy.com/a-comprehensive-guide-to-color-theory-for-artists/).
Colour Combinations or Schemes
Complementary
When distinguishing complimentary colours on the colour wheel, these are the colours that are directly opposite to each other. When these colours are placed next to each other this creates a strong contrast and vibrant effect. For example, in the image below, the red mascara has been placed on a green background which are directly opposite on the colour wheel and creates a vibrant effect.
Analogous
The analogous, is a relaxing combination and is distinguished with being next to each other on the colour wheel, these combinations are usually used to create harmonious effects to paintings/imagery. For Analogous to be most effective, a dominant colour (primary colour), a secondary colour and a third accent colour are chosen. For example, in the image below as there are only two main colours, red and orange were selected as they are next to each other on the colour wheel.
Triadic
This combination uses three colours which are evenly distributed throughout the colour wheel. This creates a vibrant scheme for the image. By using this scheme, this balances the colours which prevents the viewer from becoming overwhelmed. For example, in the image below the bag is mostly blue, therefore the colours yellow and purple were selected to create a triadic combination.
Split-Complementary
This scheme is a variation of complementary colours. For this variation there is usually one dominant colour base, possibly a primary colour, and two complementary adjacent colours. This scheme is the easier to balance than the complementary colour scheme and is frequently used as a starting point for beginners. For example the red of the mascara is opposite both blue and green on the colour wheel.
There is much more to colour theory, but above are the basics of it in terms of product photography, using the colour wheel allows the exploration of colour and allows to get the most easily viewed images for the audience.