Clashing vs harmonious combinations

Convention dictates that we co-ordinate colour artfully according to tradition and that they’re easy on the eye. These principles been developed and adhered to over hundreds of years and are considered aesthetically pleasing to most people.

Four of the key harmonious colour combinations are:

Analogous (colours that sit beside each other on the colour wheel)
Complementary (colours that sit opposite each other on the colour wheel)
Split complementary (not quite complementary, but almost)
Triadic (any two or three colours that sit at equal distance from each other around the colour wheel)

As in many other areas of life, sometimes challenging convention is appealing. To deliberately combine your colours so that they clash is to ignore all the conventional colour guidelines.

How would you do this?

The easiest way is to combing colours of varying temperatures; for example a warm tomato red with a cool ice blue. There is relief provided in this combination though, through the red being bright and the blue being soft. The red grabs your attention over the blue.

To get things really clashing, you would not only combine warm and cool together but also colours that have a similar saturation level; for example, a warm tomato red with a bright sapphire blue. In this case, there is no relief for the eye because both colours are strong and compete for your attention. The edges between them may even seem to blur.

Why would you do this?

There are a few reasons you might want to clash your colours.

It’s on-trend. Colours that look a ‘bit off’ are not uncommon now. It’s a statement. Power clashing has become a thing. But to power-clash you need to go bold so it doesn’t look like an error. Make it strong! Make it deliberate! It’s a deliberately irreverent thumbing of your nose at convention.

It stretches your creativity. It’s unexpected. Thinking outside the square with colour can be refreshing as you begin to think about colour differently.

Because it’s fun! And people will notice you! Sometimes it’s just fun to stand out. At a party, in the workplace, at an art event, to demonstrate you don’t take yourself too seriously. These are all good reasons to colour clash.

But just because you’re clashing your colours doesn’t mean it won’t suit you. You can power clash using colours that work for you and then throw in a red herring, so to speak. With party season almost upon us, I’ve been working on some colour schemes that will show you how to do just that. They’re called Party Fun Creative and you can either choose one immediately or find a guide to how to choose yours here.

Clashing vs blocking

A final word on colour clashing… colour clashing is not colour blocking. These are different practices. ‘Blocking’ refers simply to wearing colours without print and without neutrals.

You could choose to clash within your colour blocking outfit but equally, you could combine colours that harmonise.

If you’re colour clashing, you can introduce print and pattern as well as unexpected colour.

Colour clashing