Understanding Color Grading in Simple Ways
How to set mood and add emotional depth to your design.
Have you ever watched a video or seen a design where the colors build a certain feeling?
Designs with warm colors are often associated with nostalgic feelings, but other colors can bring tension or calmness.
That’s the power of color grading. It shapes how people feel when they experience your work.
We’ll explore simple ways to understand and use color grading to set the perfect mood as well as add emotional depth to your designs.
But first, let’s explore the basics, shall we?
What is Color Grading?
Color grading simply means adjusting the colors in your visual content to enhance its emotional tone.
This technique is applicable to all content formats, from images to motion graphics, animated videos, and filmographies.
Usually, color grading is the final step in the video editing process, fine-tuning how viewers emotionally engage with the visuals.
When you’re color grading your content, you play with color tones, brightness, contrast, and saturation.
Unique color settings in your content can also emphasize your brand identity and leave a more memorable feeling.
Here is a list of the main benefits of color grading in visual designs:
- Establish a specific atmosphere or tone.
- Create a strong and unique brand identity.
- Correct color imbalances or inconsistencies.
- Bring the psychological impact of your design.
- Strengthen the emotional connection with the audience.
- Improve the aesthetic appeal of your design.
Basic Color Grading Techniques
Warm Tones
Colors categorized as warm tones, such as red, orange, and yellow, bring positivity and nostalgia, depending on how you style them.
They’re great for creating comforting moods that evoke warmth and familiarity.
Specific grading in these tones can also produce presets that evoke energy.
Such tones are ideal for branding that aims to connect personally or tell joyful stories.
Cool Tones
Cool tones include blues, greens, and purples. Such colors introduce a sense of calm, professionalism, or even mystery.
These colors are often used to create relaxed, serene environments but can also be adjusted to add tension or distance.
High-Contrast
Grading colors with high contrast can create tension and excitement by using stark differences between light and dark areas or bold opposing colors.
It draws attention to specific elements and instantly grabs viewers’ attention to certain design aspects.
Desaturated or Muted Tones
Desaturated tones reduce the intensity of colors. As a result, your design will look more subtle and understated.
Muted palettes are often used to convey melancholy, seriousness, or a vintage vibe.
Pastel Tones
Pastel tones use soft colors like light pink, blues, white, and yellows.
They are often associated with feelings of peace, innocence, or playfulness.
Pastels are great for brands that want to create a gentle, approachable, and friendly aesthetic.
Color grading with soft colors is often applied in products associated with females and kids.
Color grading is also an essential step in our video production.
Breadnbeyond always makes sure that each project’s color palette reflects its desired mood and tone, whether in explainer videos or corporate animations.
We believe that color grading helps our designs look visually stunning and enhances the emotional impact of every frame.
