How to build a color palette for your brand (5-step method)
Build a brand palette that works on a website, a business card, and a social post — not just a Pinterest board.
- A rough sense of your brand personality
Step by step
- 01
Pick one primary color
This is THE color people remember. Pick it based on emotion (blue = trust, green = growth, red = urgency) and competitor differentiation (don't pick the same blue as everyone in your category).
- 02
Generate a palette around it
Use coolors.co or Realtime Colors. Generate a 5-color palette: primary, secondary, accent, light neutral, dark neutral.
- 03
Check accessibility contrast
Run each text+background combo through webaim.org/resources/contrastchecker. You need 4.5:1 minimum for body text, 3:1 for large text.
- 04
Test in context
Paste your palette into a Figma mockup of your homepage. Colors that look great in swatches often clash when applied. Adjust the saturation/lightness, not the hue.
- 05
Document it
For each color: name, hex, RGB, where to use it, where NOT to use it. Add to your brand guide.
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