Choosing a color palette for a logo, a website or any design project can go from fun to frustrating very quickly. Finding a great color combination can be difficult for anyone, it doesn’t matter if you are working on a design project, picking out paint colors for a room, or matching the colors on an outfit. Color can grab your attention or make you want to look away. It can provoke emotion and it can affect your mood.
People sometimes assume that as a graphic designer you always know which colors work best together, and although designers usually do have a better understanding of color, we can also sometimes get stuck trying to find the right color palette for a project.
There are so many online tools on the web that provide color inspiration. Below are three easy, free and fun tools I thought I’d share with you today. Enjoy!
COLOURlovers.com is a place where people can create and share colors, palettes and trends. Its online community provides tons of inspiration for those seeking help with color decisions. This website offers many tools, but what I personally like best is their
Trends section. It explores the colors used on websites, logos, magazine covers, and even fashion in real-time. It provides you with the HEX and RGB values for each color making it really easy to get inspired and get to work!
Color Wizard is a color matching application you can find on
ColorsOnTheWeb.com. It’s easy to use and incredibly helpful when you are looking to create a palette around a specific color. You start by selecting the base color and the wizard displays matching options for it. It also allows you to request specific color harmonies (monochromatic, complementary, etc.) and it provides you with the HEX values of the suggested color scheme. Don’t have a base color? No problem, you can click on the Randomize button and it will choose it for you too!
Pictaculous is a fabulous online color palette generator that works with images. You upload an image file and it creates a palette for you based on its colors. It provides you with the suggested HEX values, as well as an Adobe Swatch File which you can download and import to your Adobe design programs.
Hopefully these tools will help you choose the right colors for your next project. Feel free to share any online tools or websites you use to find color inspiration by leaving a comment below!
Last weekend,