Color Notes

How many colors should a website use?

You start with a background. Then a text color. Then the brand color needs a darker version for hover. The form needs red for errors. Success needs green. Cards need […]

Banner with a humorous dialogue between #000000 and #17201B on a white background, framed by several black and near-black color blocks.

The Best Black Text Colors on White: 8 Readable HEX Codes

Black text on a white background sounds like the easiest color decision in design. Choose #000000. Done. Except there is a surprising amount of room between pure black and something […]

Abstract arrangement of navy, cream, sage green, and gray color panels with small ceramic objects, illustrating website header color combinations.

How to Choose Background and Text Colors for a Website

Open a new website project and one of the first decisions looks almost suspiciously easy: What color should the page be? White is safe. Black text is readable. Done. Except […]

Coastal photograph beside five coordinated color swatches in deep blue, pale blue, sand, sage green and terracotta.

How to create a color palette from an image

Sometimes the colors you need are already right in front of you. You may have a wedding photograph with soft sage leaves, warm skin tones and an old stone wall. […]

A blue base color expanding into lighter and darker blues, neutral colors and a small warm accent.

How to create a color palette from one color

Sometimes you do not need more inspiration. You already have the color. Maybe it is the blue in your logo. A green you keep coming back to. A warm orange […]

Three large letterforms in different type styles displayed on separate cards, illustrating how typography changes the appearance of text.

Your font changes how text color works

A text color can have excellent contrast and still be surprisingly hard to read. Because we do not read contrast ratios. We read letters. And the size, weight and shape […]

Three status colors shown alone and again with success, warning and error icons and labels, illustrating why meaning should not depend on color alone.

Color should help, not do all the talking

Green means success. Red means error. Blue means link. Usually. But color meanings are learned, contextual and not always perceived in the same way. A green dot may look obviously […]

Five text colors on white compared by contrast ratio, with four readable examples and one low-contrast example that fails.

The best text color for a website? Not always black

Black text on a white background works. Very well, in fact. But that does not mean every paragraph, heading, label and button on your website needs to be dressed in […]

Abstract still life of navy, sage, coral, ochre, cream and translucent glass geometric forms in a softly lit studio.

Color Meanings: What Colors Can Communicate

Color can say a lot without saying anything. A deep blue can feel calm in one palette and serious in another. Red can suggest energy, love, danger, confidence or urgency. […]