How do you keep your web color palette fresh?

1 Understand color theory

Before you start picking colors, you need to understand some basic principles of color theory, such as the color wheel, the relationships between colors, and the meanings and effects of different hues, values, and saturations. Color theory can help you create harmonious, balanced, and appealing color schemes that suit your brand identity, target audience, and website goals. You can also use color theory to create contrast, hierarchy, and emphasis in your web design.

2 Use online tools and resources

One of the easiest ways to keep your web color palette fresh is to use online tools and resources that can help you generate, explore, and test different color combinations. For example, you can use color generators like Coolors, Paletton, or Adobe Color to create color palettes based on various criteria, such as random, monochromatic, complementary, or analogous. You can also use color inspiration websites like Dribbble, Design Seeds, or Color Hunt to browse and discover color palettes created by other designers. Additionally, you can use color testing tools like Color Safe, Contrast Checker, or WebAIM to check the accessibility and readability of your color choices.

3 Follow the trends and best practices

Another way to keep your web color palette fresh is to follow the trends and best practices in web design and color usage. For example, you can look at the popular and emerging color trends in web design, such as dark mode, gradients, pastels, or neons, and see how you can incorporate them into your website. You can also follow the best practices for web design color palettes, such as using a limited number of colors, choosing colors that match your brand personality, creating a consistent color scheme across your website, and using colors to guide the user's attention and actions.

4 Experiment and iterate

Finally, the best way to keep your web color palette fresh is to experiment and iterate with different colors and see how they affect your web design. You can use tools like Chrome DevTools, Firefox Developer Tools, or CodePen to change the colors of your website elements on the fly and see the results in real time. You can also use tools like A/B testing, user feedback, or analytics to measure and compare the performance and impact of different color palettes on your website. By experimenting and iterating with your web color palette, you can find the optimal solution that works for your website and your users.

5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?