In the design world, the additive color model is the most commonly used since it's what digital displays use. The primary colors in the additive color model are red, green, and blue (RGB).

The term "additive" refers to the fact that as you add colors to the mix, the result gets progressively lighter, all the way to white when all colors are combined. James Clerk Maxwell is largely credited as the father of additive color for his experimental work regarding light and the color spectrum. In 1861, he presented the very first color photograph at the Royal Institution.^[1]