Unsolicited Opinions About Color.

Unsolicited opinions

I went to design school. I know the color wheel. Monochromatic, analogous, complementary, triadic. I can recite all of it.

And in all my years of doing this, I have never once looked at a project and thought, you know what this needs? A split complementary scheme.

Nobody picks colors that way.

Here's how it actually goes.

You collect things. Screenshots, packaging, a wall you walked past, a sweater. You don't even know you're collecting them. And at some point you notice the same colors keep showing up in your pile, and that's your palette. It was your palette the whole time. You were just gathering evidence.

The color wheel comes in afterward. It's grammar, not inspiration. It can explain why a combination works once you've found it. It has never once handed me the combination.

Vibes first. Theory second.

And since we're here, some opinions nobody asked for.

Pure black is harsh. Almost nothing in real life is actually black. Tint it with your brand color and suddenly everything looks intentional instead of defaulted. Same for gray.

Cream is not boring. White is boring. Cream is white that made a decision.

Every color in your palette needs a job. In one of my own brands, pink labels things and mustard is only allowed to be dots. That sounds ridiculous and it's the reason it holds together. A color that does everything does nothing.

You need fewer colors than you think. If your brand has seven, you don't have a palette, you have a bag.

And if every brand in your industry is currently the same sage green and soft terracotta: that's not alignment, that's a uniform. It photographs beautifully and it makes you invisible.

One part of this is not vibes, and I want to be clear about it.

Contrast. If people can't read your text, the palette failed, no matter how good it feels. That part has actual rules and actual numbers, and it's the one place where I will absolutely side with the theory over the mood board.

Pretty and illegible is just illegible.

So no, I'm not going to teach you the color wheel. It's on Wikipedia and it's fine.

Pay attention to what you keep saving. Give every color one job. Tint your blacks. Make sure people can read it.

That's the whole theory.

Bianca.

I also make zines, stickers and printables under Noted., for people who like paper more than they can strictly justify.
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