Creating the Perfect Colour Palette

Jan 16, 2019
By now, you’ve probably realized how important colour is within design. Many companies and businesses build their brand around certain colours, with some going as far to trademark it such as Tiffany & Co. Creating a strong colour palette is crucial for any business. Using a consistent colour palette will influence people to associate those specific colours with your business. If you’re not sure where to start in creating a colour palette, we’re prepared to guide you through it.

Keep Colour Theory in Mind

Prior to picking colours for your palette, you need to understand basic colour theory and the relationships between colours. If you don’t understand either, then attempting to create the perfect colour palette will be quite difficult. As we’ve previously discussed, colour can affect a person’s emotions, subconsciously or not. Colour palettes consisting of shades of blue will create a sense of tranquility, while shades of red may grab a person’s attention. You’ll have to consider how you want people to feel about your brand.

Creating a Colour Palette

Creating a colour palette from scratch doesn’t have to be complicated and intimidating. There are little tricks that can make the process a little easier, and we’re happy to share them with you. If you read our post on colour harmony, you’ll know there are several basic colour schemes you can use: complementary, analogous, triadic, and monochromatic. However, while these traditional schemes make creating a palette easy, they’re not exactly original. For an original colour palette, you’ll have to get a little creative.

  • Trends: Take a look at current design trends to get inspiration for your colour palette. Lately, there’s been a resurgence in using bright and bold colours to balance the minimalism look. Using bold colours on simple backgrounds will guide the viewer’s attention to what’s important and make your design more memorable.
  • Build from images: Photographs are full of colour. By using an image that you feel represents your business or brand, you’ll be able to pull sample colours from it to help create a new palette. There are several ways you can pull colour from images, such as using Photoshop or Canva’s Color Palette Generator. From one image, you can build several colour palettes.
  • Play with shades, tones, and tints: If you have a colour that you feel fits your brand perfectly, feel free to use it. You can create a colour palette using only one colour by playing with varying shades of that colour. Include more neutral colours as well, such as greys. These can create a balance between your original colour and its varying shades.
Be sure to test your palette before putting it in use. You may find that the colours work well in more muted tones, but once the contrast is amplified, they no longer look harmonious. Create mock templates to see how your signs and decals would look.

That concludes our guide on how to build your own colour palette! If you would like to explore creating your own colour palette a little more, we suggest you visit ColourLovers. There, you’ll find a wonderful community who understand and practice building strong colour palettes.
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