Color Palette Creation Guide: Design and Brand Identity

Color theory basics

Color wheel: Primary colors (red, blue, yellow), secondary colors (orange, green, purple), tertiary colors. Basic tool for color selection.

Color harmony: Harmonious color combinations. Monochromatic (single hue), analogous (adjacent), complementary (opposite), triadic (120° apart).

Color psychology: Red (energy, urgency), blue (trust, professionalism), green (natural, health), yellow (joy, attention), purple (luxury, creativity).

Color contrast: WCAG standards. At least 4.5:1 for normal text, 3:1 for large text.

Palette creation methods

Start with brand colors: Base on logo and brand identity colors. 1-2 primary colors + 2-3 complementary colors.

60-30-10 rule: 60% dominant color (background), 30% secondary color (cards, panels), 10% accent color (buttons, links).

Limited palette: 3-5 colors are sufficient. Too many colors create complexity. Each color should have a role.

Dark/light mode: Choose colors that look good in both. Dark mode: dark background, light text.

Color palette tips

1. Inspiration sources: Use palette generators like Coolors.co, Adobe Color, ColorHunt.co.

2. Draw from nature: Extract color palettes from photos. Sky, nature, architecture photos are good sources.

3. Test: Check colors on different devices and screens. Colors appear differently across screens.

4. Accessibility: Consider color blindness. Red-green color blindness is most common. Do not use color alone to convey information.

5. Consistency: Use the same colors across all platforms (web, mobile, print). Document color codes (HEX, RGB).

Utilgo color tools

Utilgo offers color palette generator, color converter (HEX↔RGB↔HSL), and palette extractor (extract color palette from image) tools. All run in the browser.