Using the Primaries: REDS and BLUES

I designed these panels for the newsroom studio backdrops. They would form the base of the news studio and show up in part in the camera frames behind the news anchor. My brief on this job was to use the primary colors of Red and Blue. 

Red and Blue are extremely camera friendly colors. They play up the intensity of the studio lights and blue particularly creates the illusion of depth and can bring about a variety of expressions. Red in particular is a favorite of Indian TV stations. The vivacity of Indian tradition and culture is perhaps best defined by the bold and powerful red. It is strong and can demand attention of its audience. But primary colors are dominating to the eyes. Each holds its own in the defined space so it is a tricky situation to create blends of reds and blues. 

These panels were very large in size..most of them were over 12 feet and some long ones even went up to 45 feet in length. The theme was to keep the color tone and motif as generic as possible. Putting in imagery would date the panels as they were to be used for a variety of shows. 

I started to build up my design on the simple principle of linear shapes with intersecting lines and tones of blue which was more soothing to the eye. I used slanting lines to visually draw away from the perpendicular symmetry of television and used just a hint of red to break the monotony of blue. A golden highlight cut across the rich colors to bring visual relief and offer some sparkle in the design. In the thinner panel on the left I used highly reflective cylindrical shapes in the same harmonious blue tone. My design direction was simple...to use primary colors yet diffuse their intensity by varying proportion and balance.

Panel 1: newsroom studio backdrop

Panel 2: newsroom studio backdrop

Panel 2 is more of an example where i used more red as the dominating color. The cylindrical design gained more prominence when rendered in red and hints of silver. The gold streak cutting through it broke the monotony of the red haze.
Panel 3 is also a variation on the same principles

Panel 3: newroom studio backdrop

So my principles of using the primaries is to use a black or a white as a bridging color. Add a highlight for sparkle and never create a direct blend between the two. Always use a buffer zone of a neutral in between. Choose a dominant color and recessive color and vary their use throughout the design. The primary colors can be so right when used with heart and can create drama whenever there is the need for high contrast and attention.