How to Generate a Color Palette for Your Design
Color is one of the first things people notice about a website, app, or design. A well-chosen palette creates a cohesive, professional look. A poorly chosen one makes even good content feel off.
You do not need to be a designer to pick good colors. Color theory gives you reliable formulas.
Color harmony modes
These are based on the relationships between colors on the color wheel:
Complementary — two colors opposite each other (e.g., blue and orange). High contrast, energetic. Good for call-to-action elements that need to stand out.
Analogous — three colors next to each other on the wheel (e.g., blue, blue-green, green). Harmonious and calming. Good for backgrounds and natural-feeling designs.
Triadic — three colors evenly spaced around the wheel (e.g., red, yellow, blue). Vibrant and balanced. Good for playful or creative designs.
Split-complementary — a color plus the two colors adjacent to its complement. Similar contrast to complementary but less tension.
Monochromatic — different shades, tints, and tones of a single color. Always harmonious, but can lack visual interest if overused.
How to generate a palette
- Choose a harmony mode — select Random, Analogous, Complementary, Triadic, or another mode to set the color relationships.
- Lock colors you like — when you find a color you want to keep, lock it and regenerate the others until the full palette works together.
- Export — copy the HEX codes, CSS variables, or save the palette as an image.
Building a usable palette
A palette is more than a set of pretty colors. For a real project, you need:
- Primary color — your brand color, used for buttons, links, and key UI elements
- Secondary color — supports the primary, used for less prominent interactive elements
- Neutral colors — grays or muted tones for text, backgrounds, and borders (most of your UI)
- Accent color — sparingly used for highlights, notifications, or important states
- Error/success colors — red for errors, green for success (these are usually separate from your palette)
Tips
- Start with one color — pick a primary color you like, then use a harmony mode to find colors that complement it. This is easier than trying to pick 5 colors independently.
- Test on real content — a palette that looks great as swatches might not work when applied to actual text, buttons, and backgrounds. Always test with real UI.
- Check contrast — beautiful colors are useless if text is not readable. Run your text/background combinations through a contrast checker to meet WCAG accessibility standards (4.5:1 ratio for normal text).
- Less is more — a design with 3 well-chosen colors looks more professional than one with 7. Use neutrals for most of the interface and save bold colors for what matters.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many colors should a palette have?
Most designs work best with 3 to 5 colors — a primary color, a secondary color, a neutral, and one or two accents. More than that can make a design feel chaotic.
What is a color harmony?
Color harmony refers to combinations of colors that look pleasing together based on their positions on the color wheel. Common harmonies include complementary (opposite colors), analogous (adjacent colors), and triadic (three evenly spaced colors).
How do I check if my colors are accessible?
Use a contrast checker to verify that your text and background colors meet WCAG accessibility standards. The minimum contrast ratio for normal text is 4.5:1 (AA level).
Can I export my palette?
Yes. You can copy colors as HEX codes, CSS variables, or export the palette as an image for use in design tools like Figma, Canva, or Sketch.