The Color Key/ Black The color model acronym known as CMYK is created from cyan which is a bluish green, magenta which is a bright purplish color, yellow in a shade that is in the middle of its spectrum and key which is black. Key is a reference to the term key printing plate used in the printing industry but for general purposes, key is symbolic of black. By referencing the color with a K, it also helps to avoid confusion between a ‘B’ being used for ‘black’ or ‘blue’. Symbolic Black Many people think of black as a color of mourning or death. It is also favored among alternative music communities or artists who like to use the color for its dark connotations. Black can be a great complement to many colors but some combinations cause almost intrinsic thoughts. For example, a combination of black and bright yellow is similar to the stripes of a bumble bee or black and orange reminds many of Halloween. Black and white is often symbolic of yin and yang or opposites. New Uses of Key The use of key in the printing industry is critical to creating the wide variety of colors used for creating commercially printed material. When home computer printers and digital photography increased in use for consumers, the CMYK color model became more prevalent with the use of black ink being required. Often, the darkest printing black is not achieved solely with black ink, but by adding black ink with other colors from the CMYK model. |  — Color coordinates —
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