As a book editor and marketer, I've struggled with color choices countless times. It's easy to get caught up in a project's excitement but then try to throw colors together thousands of times to make a design look good. As I've learned over the years, there's much more to creating the right palette than picking pretty colors by personal preference or luck. A basic understanding of color theory and utilizing some online tools will help you create visually appealing combinations and effectively convey the right message.

Why Color Palettes Matter?

Colors aren't just aesthetic choices—they carry psychological meaning and influence perception. The right colors evoke emotions, set the tone, and improve readability and user experience. Using colors strategically reinforces your message, making your work more engaging and memorable.

Understand Color Theory Basics

Getting familiar with 3 foundational color theory principles helps you choose the color palette.

1) Color Balance

My advice is to keep it simple when you begin. Start with three colors:

• Base Color: This is your primary color—the anchor of your palette. It sets the tone for the entire design and will make up most of your project's color scheme.

• Accent Color: This is where you add contrast and make certain elements pop.

• Sub-Colors: These supporting colors fill in the gaps and depth of your palette. Think of them as the background players.

This approach keeps your design grounded and prevents it from feeling chaotic. From here, you can always adjust and add a few additional tones or shades if needed. But usually, three colors are more than enough to create a harmonious, visually striking palette.

2) Hue, Lightness, and Colorfulness

Understanding hue, lightness, and colorfulness helps us pick the right three colors to form a well-balanced color palette.

• Hue is how we distinguish color. A color wheel is a circular arrangement of hues. Doing so makes finding the "opposite" color (complementary colors) easy. Complementary colors naturally create contrast and balance, which will be good candidates for the base and accent colors.

• Lightness: Lightness refers to how light or dark a color is. Lighter colors feel airy, optimistic, and soft, while darker colors convey sophistication and seriousness.

• Colorfulness (Saturation): Saturation refers to the intensity or purity of a color. Highly saturated colors are bold and energetic, while muted colors are softer and calmer.

Lightness + Colorfulness = Emotional tone + Energy

3) RGB vs CMYK

It is important to know what medium the colors will be used in.

• RGB is used for digital screens. It combines red, green, and blue light to create colors.

• CMYK is used for printing. It mixes cyan, magenta, yellow, and black inks to produce colors on paper. Since it's ink-based, the colors are more muted compared to RGB.

Pick the Colors

Now comes the fun part: picking your colors! Let’s say your project is a marketing campaign for a brand that wants to exude vigor and energy. Go bold with a complementary scheme of vibrant reds, yellows, and blues. This high-contrast approach grabs attention and radiates excitement.

What if your project aims to highlight elegance and grandeur? A monochromatic scheme with deep, muted tones like navy blue or charcoal gray, accented with leather brown, may perfectly nail that luxurious feel.

Or maybe you’re designing a product that emphasizes nature. Using soft earth tones inspired by a serene forest or a countryside landscape can create a grounded, harmonious vibe.

Once you’ve chosen three colors, you can always expand your palette by adding complementary or accent hues—just make sure the additional colors enhance your design without making it chaotic.

Tools to Help You Pick The Right Color

• Coolors: A user-friendly color palette generator that helps you create, save, and explore stunning combinations.

• Khroma: An AI-powered tool that learns your preferences to generate personalized color palettes.

Final Thoughts

Selecting the right color palette blends science, art, and intuition. By understanding your project’s purpose, exploring inspirations, and applying color theory, you can create designs that captivate and communicate effectively. The key is to match your palette to the story your project tells. Don’t be afraid to experiment!