On the heels of my last post discussing the Psychology of Color, let’s get hands-on with creating some captivating color schemes.
Compatible Colors
For me, the phrase “color wheel” drags up memories of middle school art class, where our first assignment every year was to create a color wheel. We’d go over primary and secondary colors, then complementary colors, and call it good. In this post, we’ll dive a bit deeper than that, moving from simple to complex. That being said, it’s important to remember that, like the Pirates’ Code, these are “More like guidelines than actual rules.”
Monotone
The Scandinavian minimalist of color schemes, monotones are centered around varying tints and shades of a single neutral. Off whites, greys, greiges, and beige live here. The subdued nature of these palettes creates the perfect playground for experimenting with texture and form.
Monochromatic
Monochramtic color schemes focus on the many members of a specific family of hues, playing with tones.
Analogous
The most harmonious of color schemes, analogous palettes combine neighboring colors. A classic set of analogous colors contains a primary, secondary, and tertiary color. However, adding a fourth color can drastically change the dynamics of this style palette.
Complementary
As they say in romance, opposites attract. Complementary colors sit across from each other on the wheel, balancing warm and cool hues and creating vibrant contrasts. One caveat: this pairing can make reading text difficult, so use it cautiously. There are several ways to counteract the intensity of these pairings. You can couple them with neutrals to make them more manageable. Alternatively, you can also play with the tones of the complements.
Split-Complementary
A twist on the complementary scheme, split-complementary uses one color plus the two adjacent to its complement. This creates a harmony between the two analogous colors and a contrast with the complementary color. Similarly to complementary color schemes, you can play with the tones of each color for different visual effects.
Triad
Triads are a combination of three equally spaced colors around the color wheel. For example: red, blue, and yellow. These color schemes give off a youthful vibe when fully saturated, but become more complex as you play with tone combinations and neutral pairings.
Tetrad
Also known as a “Square,” the tetrad is one of the most complex color schemes, consisting of two sets of complementary colors.
The Adobe Color web app is a great tool for experimenting with different palettes and exploring ready-made color schemes.
Things to Keep In Mind
Choose Your Dominant
A good color scheme is based on more than the colors themselves. Generally, choosing one dominant color from the palette works well, with the others as supporting colors. While the palette may remain the same, differing dominant colors can quickly change the overall “vibe” of a palette.
Accessibility
Two aspects of color schemes to check for are contrast and color blind safety. There should be a contrast level of 4.5:1 for smaller text, and 3:1 for larger text according to accessability guidelines. There are many web tools to check contrast, including Adobe Color and WebAIM. In my palette creations, I always mix in lighter and darker shades of each color. This trick helps me stay true to my brand while making sure my designs are easy on the eyes for everyone.
From picking the perfect dominant hue to ensuring our designs are as inclusive as they are impressive, we’ve navigated the essentials of color magic. Remember, it’s all about playing with colors and letting your creative spirit soar.