How to create a perfect color palette for your digital product?

Colors are significant. Along with typography and space, colors are one of the major building blocks of an interface. 

Why? Because the color is impactful, it interacts with the user. Logically, color has an influence on a user’s purchase. 

People are drawn towards certain colors and feel associated with the scheme since it takes just 90 seconds for a user to make judgments about the digital product.

While designing a brand, thorough attention has to be given to the colors that you choose for it. Colors speak. Colors radiate. Colors matter.

1. Red communicates energy, power, and passion.
2. Green communicates ambition, growth, freshness, and safety
3. Blue communicates tranquility, confidence, and intelligence.
4. Yellow communicates happiness, intellect, and energy.
5. Black communicates power, elegance, and mystery.
6. White communicates cleanliness, purity, and perfection. 

What alternate Color Schemes are accessible?

85% of decisions made by the user while making choices for a product was based on the color only. As a designer, it is very important to learn the decoding of different sets of colors and combinations. 

What are the available alternate combinations that can be looked up at while choosing the best one for your product? Let’s have a look! 

1. COMPLIMENTARY 

These are easy to use colors which are placed adjacent in a color wheel. Brands that communicate a sense of balance and reliability use complementary color tones. Like the color blue compliments white. 

The perfect example of complimentary set applied on an app is Paytm.

2. MONOCHROMATIC

The hues and tones of a base color are combined to get monochromes. When shades of the same color are used, it adds to the effects of harmony. The sets of monochromes are easy to remember since the user can easily relate similar shades and keep in mind the brand product. 

The best example of a monochromatic color scheme can be seen in this weather app.

3. ANALOGOUS

When the color that you have chosen, in its adjacent you have three colors in the left or right making a set, this set of four colors is taken as an analogous color scheme. When the content for the brand design has to be created this color scheme is preferred.  

To illustrate an example of the analogous scheme, the booking app is taken into mind.

4. TRIADIC

Under the Triadic scheme, the colors are evenly spaced in an equilateral triangle. High contrast and high vibrancy can be seen in the triadic color scheme. The colors are picked in a proper form while this scheme is followed. When you pick a color on the wheel, you can pick the next color that is three colors away from either side from the chosen color. 

The best suitable example that explains the triadic scheme is the design of the logo of Burger King. 

5. TETRADIC 

Tetradic is a four-colored structure that is evenly spaced on the color scheme. The Tetradic scheme creates an accent with the colors. One dominant color is chosen with three accents supporting it. Similarly like Triadic a tough to handle, vibrant palette is formed in Tetradic color scheme. 

Google is the major example holding the vibrant Tetradic combination.

How to structure your color wheel for UI design?

To build a consistent base of colors and to reduce the shades of used colors is the right thing to do. We clearly know we have to structure the colors but how do we do this? 

Let us understand how do we choose the color scheme for your product design.

1. CONDUCT INTERFACE INVENTORY

By interface inventory, we mean to categorize the components making up your website or app. How many colors you are using in your product is figured out by interface inventory. 

A tool like CSS Stats ( https://cssstats.com/?ref=uxplanet ) can be used to know your colors while working on a website. 

2. LET BRAND COLORS FORM THE BASIS

While working for an established brand, its preferred not to change its color palette. If in case you divert from the color palette, you will redirect yourself from the brand guidelines as well. 

3. DEFINE FOUNDATIONAL COLORS

You can always establish your whites and blacks. Black does not have to be absolute black and white does not have to be absolute white. Tints and shades should be carefully added to your color palette since it can be hard for your designer later to work with numerous shades. 

4. DEFINE INTERACTIVE COLORS

The interactive elements- buttons, links, and other UI controls that users can click need interactive colors. 

Ideally, you should limit the use of interactive colors and prefer using a single tone. Single-tone helps the user memorize your brand color. 

5. DEFINE DENOTIVE COLORS

For states such as error, warning and success we require colors that denote them. 

In case of error state, if we use red color then make sure not to use red for your app design. In case of success state, if green color is used then make sure not to use green color as the dominant one for your app.

Also, the denotive colors for success and error states have to be chosen in a way that the two colors work for both high and low contrast backgrounds. 

6. CLEAR NAMING CONVENTIONS

The colors that you are saving on your design system, make sure to denote them with particular names. The color names should be memorable so that designers and developers can easily refer to the color palette. While naming the color, the use of the gradation of adjectives can be avoided like dark blue, light blue. 

7. TEST YOU PALETTE 

While modifying the existing colors, you might break the entire UI. It is recommended that the created and applied color palette must be tested carefully to avoid glitches. 

The palette can be tested by either visual regression tools or can be done manually as well. 

BEST HANDY COLOR PALETTE TOOLS 

COOLERS - A color palette is made on the basis of the colors found in the picture uploaded by you. 

COLORLOVERS - Provides massive user-generated colors and palettes. 

DRIBBLE COLOR -  First a primary color is selected then palettes are found that work best with it. 

COLLOR - Color palette tints, tones can be generated from the color you choose from color pickers. 

COLOROTATE - It is a 3D tool for generating color schemes. 

CANVA COLOR TOOL - The most useful app that helps you learn and know everything you want to about how the colors are blended. 

PALETTE GENERATOR - This uploads at least 20 images for color palette creation. 

KNOWING IT ALL!

Have known it all, we can conclude that as a designer it genuinely is a major task to put detailed attention to the color scheme of your product’s UI. Finding out the best color palette has to be the priority while designing the interface for your product.