Relationships

Tetradic colors

Colors positioned on the color wheel along a rectangle or square. One of Johannes Itten's "harmonious chords": geometric points demonstrating color "notes" as a basis for composition.

Color wheel with a rectangle connecting points from lime green-yellow, red, navy blue, and cyan. A square connects points from chartreuse, orange, fuchsia, and sky blue.

How it affects UI design

Tetradic colors provide a wide range of differentiation of color in a UI color palette.

A tetradic palette may be prone to color conflicts for people who have a color vision deficiency.

Hue is treated differently between color spaces, which can affect which colors are considered to be tetradic.

Sources:

  1. Linda Holtzschue (2017). Understanding color: an introduction for designers. 5th edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Pages 140, 141