Tufte, Complimentary Colors, and Color Psychology

Tufte’s chapter on “Color and Information” really took me back to my undergraduate days in a 3D design class. Though there was more of an artistic bent to that course, many of the principles that Tufte described (such as using colors found in nature and the subtraction of color) were communicated to us, but there was one thing I feel Tufte didn’t really delve into: the use of complimentary colors. Although he alludes to it in a few places, including when he talks about the value scale, there is really no mention of what colors work best together, what colors don’t, and the effect those colors might have on the viewer (if memory serves, the complimentary pairings of colors include orange – blue, yellow – purple, red – green, and black – white). Indeed, Tufte seems relatively unconcerned with notions of color psychology in terms of design, instead favoring how color relates to the presentation of information (ex. maps, charts, etc.). I think this is all well and good and clearly coincides with Tufte’s purpose, but did anyone feel like he should have gone into greater detail about how the combination of certain colors will invariably facilitate a certain emotional response in the viewer?