Colour Combinations Every Designer Should Know
Choosing the right colors for your design projects is a pretty big deal, in this post, we want to take a closer look at some of our favourite color combinations and explain the psychology behind them along with some tutorials to help you understand color theory!
Green & Pink
RGB 29,152,106 & RGB 245, 190, 219 | SOURCE IMAGE : 1 & 2
Green and Pink work very well together, Green represents peace and harmony, whilst pink represents femininity and love! This is popular color combination for botanical, spring season and female inspired illustrations!
Tip: Read color inspiration blogs
If you get stuck on choosing colours then use platforms such as ColorMatters ColorHunt, DesignSeed and Picular. These sites provide free beautiful colour combinations that you can use in your artwork!
Blue & Pink
Blue and Pink create a strong contrast and work well together! Dark Blue is powerful and represents wisdom and confidence and can be found in nature such as the sea and sky so creates a calm and peaceful mood.
Pink colour also creates a calming effects and is used for feminine designs and for young girls art.
RGB 0,62,123 & RGB 245, 190, 219 | SOURCE IMAGE : 1 & 2
Navy Blue & Orange
Orange color is associated with sunshine and happiness and usually used in corporate logos to represent confidence and success. Add a pop of orange on dull dark colors and it will immediately make your artwork stand out!
RGB: 21,48, 75 & RGB: 239, 103, 63 | SOURCE IMAGE : 1 & 2
Tip: Study the color wheel
Study the color wheel and get familiar with the structure. Experiment with mixing colours to really understand how they work.
Yellow & Orange
Orange color represents confidence and success! Add a pop of orange on dull dark colours and it will immediately make your artwork stand out! These colours are used in artwork for Autumn season.
RGB: 244,172, 64 & RGB: 234, 89, 42 | SOURCE IMAGE : 1 & 2
Blue & Red
Both primary colors that work & complement each other so well! Red and Blue are vivid so avoid using too many additional colors when these two are combined!
RGB: 254, 55, 48 & RGB: 46, 98, 182 | SOURCE IMAGE : 1 & 2
Tip: Understand cultural difference
Use colors that are culturally appropriate. For instance in Western cultures white colour represents pure and innocence whereas in some South Asian cultures it is the colour of death.
We love this book on understanding colour meanings around the world!
Check out this post on Color psychology and how colour tricks used by top companies!
Red is a fascinating color and in this video below, I’m going to explain what makes it so culturally important and show you examples of great designs and illustrations using red as the primary colour.
Blue & Yellow
Dark Blue represents night and calm and Yellow represents fun and positivity! Both colors are opposite to each other on the color wheel so this contrast works really well to create a vibrant colour scheme!
RGB: 50, 42, 89 & RGB: 241, 191, 1 | SOURCE IMAGE : 1 & 2
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Pale Pink & Mustard
Pink and yellow in pale tones are great for kids art and also to show femininity. These color tones work well so create soft, feminine artwork!
