OUGD404 - Colour Theory - Study Task 1

In this lecture I studied the theory's of different colours and the processes which are best for specific colours in different outcomes. For example, CMYK is the best for a print format and RGB should be screen based to get the best quality. I am now also more fluent with some colour vocabulary which, at first, I was not familiar with. We was then placed into groups of 3 and asked to choose 4 genres of books and produce two colours for each theme, one for a stereotypical outcome of the specific genre and one for a more diverse option which still works with more interesting results. We used Pantone books to locate specific colours, the keys are noted below.

The four colours was as follows - 

The stereotypical crime novel cover was typically red which i believe relates to blood and danger. The reds also seem to have added shades to create a more dramatic and dark effect.

The colour which we chose for a different effect was a blue/ grey. I feel as though this colour represents mystery and drama as it has some relationship with a mist or fog. The almost monotone colour is also quite a serious colour which suggests that the book is defiantly not a playful happy novel.

I found that one of the main colours which is usually used in fantasy books is a violet colour. I believe that this is due to the relationship with magic, potions and mystery. It is also quite a dark feminine colour relating to witches  

 For our less conformist colour, we chose something with a bit more flair and brightness. The bright orange colour which was chosen has a direct relationship with the fire of a dragon and adventure but also danger.



For Romance we chose the obvious feminine choice of a light pink. Romance is obviously more of a female genre and so we found this fitting for the stereotypical choice. It also relates to roses and lipstick.

We found that a bright yellow also fits even though it is less conventional. This is because it mostly represents hope and happiness. The very light yellow is bold enough to stand out and bright enough to represent a bright light in the journey ahead.


The main colour which I found after researching various Science Fiction books was a very dark blue, probably to represent space and the solar system.

The relationship which we wanted to connect with in our own colour was to introduce a presence of aliens to the book cover. Aliens are typically related to green so we chose that but we also gave it a feeling of sand and stone on a foreign planet.