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How to Use the Color Wheel to Build a Brand Palette

How to Use the Color Wheel to Build a Brand Palette

You were probably introduced to the color wheel back in elementary school. Now that you’re branding your own business, this building block of Art 101 will take on a whole new significance!

Not just a tool for artists or illustrators, the color wheel is foundational to any successful business as well. Don’t worry if it’s been decades since you’ve heard the words “primary color.” This quick color wheel guide will not only jog your memory, but will run through everything you need to know about color palettes and brand.

Let’s dive in.


What Is the Color Wheel?

The color wheel is a simple graphic used to visualize colors and their relationships to one another. 

On the color wheel, colors (or hues) are arranged into a circle according to their wavelengths, resulting in a gradual change from hue to hue as you move around the edges of the circle.

The first color wheel was invented in the 17th century by Sir Isaac Newton, who discovered through prism experiments that white light is actually composed of a variety of distinct colors. This work led to an understanding of how colors are related to each other and how these relationships can be utilized for aesthetic impact.


Using the Color Wheel to Create a Brand Color Palette

At this point, you may be wondering why the color wheel matters. How can a 400-year-old graphic help modern designers or solopreneurs create great brands?

The answer is simple. The color wheel provides a starting point—several, in fact!—for building out a visually pleasing color palette. You don’t have to guess which colors will work well together. You can choose from a set of pre-established color relationships (or “color harmonies”) pulled directly from the color wheel.

There are many different color harmonies out there, but here are five of the most popular.

1. Analogous

Sample analogous color palette with blues and greens
These colors are close to each other on the color wheel.

Analogous color palettes consist of adjacent colors on the color wheel. These palettes typically have three or so colors in total, all belonging to the family of warm colors or cool colors.

Analogous color palettes tend to be a safe choice for brands, as they’re easy to create and rarely look unbalanced.

2. Monochromatic

Sample monochrome color palette with golden yellow
Monochrome palettes are made of tints, tones, and shades of a single hue.

Monochromatic color schemes have just a single color, with variations created by adding white and/or black. Monochrome palettes often feel luxurious, minimalist, and understated. 

One challenge with monochromatic palettes is the inherent lack of variation. Especially in more robust use cases like a website, it can be difficult to use only one hue while still maintaining variety, contrast, and accessibility. (Difficult but certainly not impossible!)

3. Complementary

Sample complementary color palette with coral and teal
Complementary colors provide a natural sense of balance.

Complementary colors are those that sit opposite each other on the color wheel. Complementary color palettes are a go-to choice for many brands because they’re inherently well balanced and have a built-in sense of dynamism.

Because they tend to include one warm color and one cool color, complementary palettes can work well for both ends of the vibe spectrum—energetic or calming.

4. Triad

Sample triad color palette with yellow, red, and blue
Triadic palettes are often unique and eye-catching.

Triad or triadic color palettes are created by taking three equidistant colors from the color wheel. Think of it as overlaying an equilateral triangle over the color wheel and then rotating it in any direction.

Triadic palettes pack a punch, but the colors need to be implemented strategically so they do not compete with each other visually. It’s a good idea to use one color as the dominant color and the other two as lighter accents.

5. Split Complementary

Sample split complementary color palette with muted steel blue, yellow, and lavender
Split complementary colors are a cross between complementary and triad.

Split complementary color schemes also use three colors (similar to triad), but they are not equidistant from one another. Instead, you’ll select your base color and then choose the two colors adjacent to its direct complement (opposite on the color wheel).

Because the hues are closer together, split complementary palettes tend to be a bit easier to implement than triadic palettes while still offering the benefit of three distinct colors.


5 Tips for Building Out a Versatile Brand Palette

The color wheel’s predefined relationships are a shortcut to selecting harmonious colors, but you’ll still need to do some additional legwork to make sure your brand palette is versatile and usable.

Here are a few key tips to keep in mind.

1. Think About Color Psychology

All color palettes start from a base color. And that base color should never be a random pick! To make sure your brand connects with your target market, you’ll want to choose your color based on color psychology.

In other words, what moods are associated with the color? What feelings? What industries? How do those meanings vary by culture?

For a beginner-friendly starting point, check out this guide to color meaning and theory.

2. Define Color Variations

Your base color palette is a firm starting point, but you won’t be able to use the same exact three or four colors everywhere. You’ll need lighter versions for less important text, brighter versions for call-to-action buttons, and so on. 

As a good rule of thumb, take each color of your palette and create two or three lighter variations and two or three darker variations. This will give you a selection of tones for different UI/UX states and other branding use cases.

3. Choose Neutrals

Neutral colors not only balance out the brighter colors of a palette but are essential for practical reasons, too—like the paragraph text of a website or a background color for a print marketing piece.

Neutrals can include white, beige, browns, grays, and blacks. Be sure to pay attention to the warmth/coolness of your neutrals so that they look pleasing with your main colors.

4. Set Dominant vs. Accent Colors

Especially if you’re using a larger color palette (of, say, five or more hues), it’s important to establish the relationship between them.

Which colors will be used most often and in the most prominent positions? Which will be reserved for details and accents?

You’ll see different formulas out there for using colors, but a popular one is this: 60-30-10. That is, use the dominant color for 60% of a design and then the two accent colors for 30% and 10%, respectively.

The exact figures aren’t terribly important, but choosing the basic hierarchy now will help you maintain a sense of consistency across future marketing assets.

5. Consider Future Context

In the early stages of branding your business, it can be hard to imagine where you’ll end up. Keep in mind that there are so many different places you may need to incorporate your brand colors:

This list isn’t meant to scare you—just to give you an idea of how versatile your color palette will need to be. By thinking about these potential use cases upfront, you can build a robust palette that serves every future need.


4 Ways to Build Your Brand’s Color Palette

Now that you know the key concepts that go into choosing brand colors, it’s time to actually design your brand palette!

Creating a formal brand palette is essential to maintaining consistency across your marketing materials. Even if you’re just starting out, you’ll thank yourself later for taking the time to create your palette now.

Below, we’re covering four ways to create a color palette for your brand. Choose the one that works best for you!

1. From Scratch

Screenshot of Create editor with brand palette
Create your own color palette with any number of hues.

Since you’re now a color wheel pro, you’re equipped to create your own color palette from scratch—if you want to! 

Refer to the color wheel above and then choose your favorite color harmony relationship: monochromatic, analogous, complementary, etc. Follow the rules of that harmony pattern to build out your brand palette.

To design and save your palette, follow these steps:

  1. Open a blank canvas from the Create homepage.
  2. Click Shapes from the left menu and then drag a filled square onto your canvas.
  3. Click Change color from the top menu and select a color using the color picker.
  4. Click Text from the left menu and then type in the hex code of your color.
  5. Repeat steps 2–4 to build out your remaining colors.
  6. Download your color palette as a PDF, so you’ll have an easy guide moving forward.

Pro tip: Even when building a palette from scratch, it never hurts to start with some inspiration. Try a search for “color palette” on Shutterstock to get those ideas flowing.

2. From a Template

Even with all the color wheel knowledge in the world, it’s always quicker to start from a template! And Create has tons to offer:

With a template, you’re free to use the base design and substitute your own colors, or you can find a template with colors that match your aesthetic and use them straight away.

3. From a Color Palette Generator

Another quick and easy way to build a brand palette is to use a color palette generator. This free online tool will automatically generate palettes based on your photo inspiration. Don’t be afraid to take these automated suggestions and tailor them! 

4. From a Photo

Screenshot of Shutterstock Create eyedropper tool to create color palette
Use the eyedropper to pick exact colors from a photo.

The color wheel is a great source of inspiration for brand colors, but so is nature! Instead of drawing from the color wheel directly, take a different approach and pull colors from a photograph.

Here’s how:

  1. Open a blank canvas from the Create homepage.
  2. Click Images from the left menu and then upload your own image or choose from Shutterstock’s unlimited stock assets.
  3. Click Shapes from the left menu and then drag a filled square onto your canvas.
  4. With the square selected, click Change color from the top menu.
  5. Click the Eyedropper tool underneath the color picker and click anywhere on the photo to grab that color.
  6. Click Text from the left menu and then type in the hex code of your color.
  7. Repeat steps 3–6 to build out your remaining colors.
  8. Download your color palette as a PDF.

Pro tip: Some Create templates take this approach, too! Check out this flower-inspired color palette template or this template inspired by a muted cityscape.


Ready to put your knowledge into action? Start building out your color palette with a brand board template from Create. With over 16 million digital colors available, the opportunities for your brand are endless!


License this cover image mockup via Davidovici and picoStudio.

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