How to Choose a Color Palette

By: VID Interns

Graphic of information explained on this page

1. The first thing to consider when choosing a color palette is what associations the audience will make with the colors used. Colors also influence the audience’s emotions, and so thinking about how the colors affect the audience’s perception is another thing to consider when choosing a color palette.

For example, green is associated with things such as money or nature. Green is also associated with ambition and freshness. A smoothie shop may use green in their brand to promote a feeling of freshness, on the other hand, a bank may also use green in their brand but instead to draw on the color’s association with money. 

Red: Passion, energy

Orange: Joy, enthusiasm 

Yellow: Happiness, intellect

Green: Ambition, freshness

Blue: Tranquility, confidence

Purple: Luxury, creativity 

2. Looking at the aspects of a color on the color wheel, such as its hue, shade and tint, can help create the amount of color contrast in a color palette. Color contrast defines the tone of a project. Complementary colors are on opposite ends of the color wheel and are used for a high color contrast. The best way to use complementary colors is to use one for accents as too much contrast can overwhelm the design of a project. 

Analogous colors have less of a contrast, as one main color is paired with two colors right next to it on the color wheel. Having less color contrast creates a softer tone. 

3. There are many useful tools for creating a color palette that are free to use. Color Hunt allows users to browse through hundreds of palettes made by designers worldwide. 

Another great option is coolors.co. It provides an endless amount of color palettes by using a color generator. It also has categories that help guide users to the palettes they are looking for.