The Colour Wheel
The traditional colour wheel is called the mixing colour wheel and is comprised of the colours red, blue and yellow. The contemporary colour wheel, upon which screen technology is based is the visual colour wheel which is comprised of the colours red green and blue. In essence this does not really change the fundamentals of colour mixing, that is contrasts or harmonies. Essentially contrasts are colour combinations where you combine colours diametrically opposite to the original colour, or the two adjacent colours opposite the colour with the original colour. Below you will find colour palettes derived from the major colour combinations, both contrasts and harmonies.

Follow link to view samples of colour theory in action in a 3D environment>>>

 

Next to type colour is the second most "revealing" element in graphic design. Colours reflect cultures and eras, as well as geographic locations and moods and concepts. Black, white and the grey range, both warm and cold are excellent starting points for your work, especially in that they will pull together the rest of your colour scheme:

Using a series of greys together with a limited number of high saturation colours, that again are selected following the colour wheel combinations, as well as black and white is an almost "can't go wrong" formula (see example):

Go to the following links to learn more about colour and colour theory. Experiment with various combinations and contrasts:

http://www.color-wheel-pro.com/color-theory-basics.html
http://www.hash.com/users/threechickens/
http://www.physics.hku.hk/~tboyce/ap/topics/
http://semmix.pl/color/models/emo11.htm
http://www.colorcube.com/articles/theory/theory.htm