What’s on the Colour Schemes poster
A 6-row table: Scheme · Positions · Effect.
Positions on a twelve-step wheel.
- Monochrome — One hue — Calm; value does the work
- Analogous — Three neighbours — Harmonious, low tension
- Complementary — An opposite pair — Maximum hue contrast
- Split complement — Hue plus two either side — Contrast, less strident
- Triadic — Three, evenly spaced — Lively, hard to balance
- Tetradic — Two complement pairs — Rich; needs a dominant
Every scheme still needs one dominant hue and a clear value structure. A balanced wheel makes an unbalanced picture.
Questions about the Colour Schemes poster
- What’s on the Colour Schemes poster?
- A 6-row table: Scheme · Positions · Effect. Positions on a twelve-step wheel. Monochrome — One hue — Calm; value does the work; Analogous — Three neighbours — Harmonious, low tension; Complementary — An opposite pair — Maximum hue contrast; Split complement — Hue plus two either side — Contrast, less strident; Triadic — Three, evenly spaced — Lively, hard to balance; Tetradic — Two complement pairs — Rich; needs a dominant. Every scheme still needs one dominant hue and a clear value structure. A balanced wheel makes an unbalanced picture.
- Who is the Colour Schemes poster for?
- Colour Schemes belongs to the Art & Design section rather than to a school year, because design is not something one grade owns. Anyone learning colour & composition can pin it up — a beginner, a student mid-course, or someone revising years later.
- When should you use the Colour Schemes poster?
- Use it to choose a palette on purpose instead of adding colours one at a time. A wall chart earns its place by being glanceable from where the work is happening, so Colour Schemes belongs on the wall where that design work actually happens, within glancing distance, rather than filed away.
- What other posters go with Colour Schemes?
- Colour Contrast, Additive & Subtractive and Scale & Proportion sit alongside Colour Schemes in the Art & Design section. Printed together they make a wall rather than a single sheet, which is how a reference set actually gets used.Colour ContrastAdditive & SubtractiveScale & Proportion
- Is the Colour Schemes poster free to download and print?
- Yes. Colour Schemes downloads as a free PDF with no account, no email and no watermark, like everything else in the Art & Design section. Print as many copies as you like for a home, a classroom, a library or a tutoring group; reselling the file is the only thing the licence rules out.Read the licence
- What size does the Colour Schemes poster print at?
- Colour Schemes is a vector PDF laid out for US Letter, and prints on A4 with Fit to page — the same file, no separate download. Because every mark on it is drawn rather than photographed, it stays sharp enlarged to A3, A2 or A1 at a copy shop. Colour carries emphasis only, so a greyscale print of Colour Schemes loses nothing.Printing guide
Related posters
Charts that sit alongside Colour Schemes on the same wall.
Browse every Art & Design poster, or start from the full catalogue.