The human eye can see millions of different hues — but sometimes,
choosing even just two or three to use from those millions can seem
like a daunting task. That’s because choosing colors for a design is
both highly subjective and, at times, highly scientific.
Color Inspiration
Colors can also be paired by temperature (warm or cool colors), saturation (vivid colors
often look youthful, while faded ones look vintage), mood (bright & fun, dark &
serious), theme (location, season, holiday), and other qualities. To explore different
color schemes, check out one of the many color-picking tools available online; some
will even let you upload an image to generate a color scheme. Some to try include
Paletton, Adobe Colour CC (formerly Kuler), and ColorExplorer. If you use Chrome as
your browser, you can download the Eye Dropper extension, which lets you identify
and pull colors straight from the web.
The Basics: Understanding Color
Color wheel
The color wheel is all about mixing colors. Mix the
primary or base colors red, yellow, and blue, and you
get the secondary colors on the color wheel: orange,
green, and violet. Mix those with a primary color,
and you get the third level of the color wheel,
tertiary colors.
Color term
Hue: synonymous with “color” or the
name of a specific color;
traditionally refers to one of the 12
colors on the color wheel
Shade: a hue darkened with black
Tone: a hue dulled with gray
Tint: a hue lightened with white
Saturation: refers to the intensity or
purity of a color
Value: refers to the lightness or darkness of a
color
Color Harmony
Monochromatic: various shades,
tones, or tints of one color; for
instance, a range of blues
varying from light to dark; this
type of scheme is more subtle
and conservative
Analogous: hues that are side by
side on the color wheel; this type of
scheme is versatile and easy to apply
to design projects
Complementary: opposites on the color
wheel, such as red/green or blue/orange;
complementary colors are high-contrast
and high-intensity
Split-Complementary: any color on the
color wheel plus the two that flank its
complement