Notes on color

Color is emotional before it is rational. People feel a palette long before they can explain it. That makes it powerful — and easy to get wrong.

Build from a single warm or cool bias

A palette that drifts between warm and cool tends to feel accidental. I pick a temperature first, then let every other color lean the same way. Even the neutrals.

Earn your accent

An accent color should be rare enough that it means something. If everything is highlighted, nothing is. I often design the entire system in near-monochrome first, then introduce a single accent only where I want the eye to land.

Test in the wild

A palette that sings in Figma can collapse on a billboard, a phone screen at night, or a cheap print run. I always proof in context — and in grayscale, to make sure the hierarchy survives without color at all.

Color is a tool for guiding attention. Used with care, it can make a design feel inevitable.