Discovering Colour Palette Generators
Hello Everyone!
Colour palettes! One of my most recent discoveries is colour palettes. Ok, so it’s not very recent, but in the past, for most of my own builds and other projects, I’ve not really used colour palettes. I just picked a colour and rolled with it. That was my reasoning. Now, however, I’m beginning to understand why designers and artists use colour palettes and moodboards, to help them plan their next designs. Colour palettes can inspire not just the theme of a design, but also the way it looks. I mean, think about it this way, whenever you look at a piece of art, do you consider how colour helps to frame the piece? Or have you watched a film and noticed the way the colour dictates the mood of a scene? It’s fascinating what colour does to the brain.
The Psychology Of Colours
There are so many studies about how colour affects the brain and how different people and cultures view each colour, what they represent and how they affect the emotions we feel. It’s been studied by many academics and written about, in many books, you just need to look in your local bookstore and you might be able to find a book on the psychology of colours. Essentially, colours help us to identify and symbolise the way we feel and use that to influence our state of mind.
For example, when you feel sad, what colours do you associate with the emotion? Normally it’d be on the darker and dreary end of the spectrum, right? So, you’ll associate sadness with blues, greys, blacks. What about happiness? They’d be on the brighter end of the spectrum. So, you’ll associate colours like yellows, pastels or even vibrant shades of colours. There’s a whole area of study around colour, and it’s actually intriguing about what it can do, and how it can affect us all in one way or another.
The Use Of Colour In Homes
Now, why am I talking about the psychology of colour? Well, as I mentioned before, colour affects how we feel, and can influence a state of mind, whether you’re conscious of it or not. If you’re moving into a new home, or you’re redecorating your current one, you’re going to need to understand how colour can help you, as you paint, furnish and decorate your rooms. For example, you’re going to want to paint your bedroom in a different colour to your dining room and kitchen (unless you’re going for the homogeneous look), or you’re going to need to furnish your living room differently to your bathroom.
This is because each room has a different purpose, and in order to feel relaxed, or in some other cases active, in those rooms, you’re going to need to coordinate the colour of the room to fit its purpose. For example (and don’t take this as a be all or end all, you can decorate your room however you’d like, this is just an example of what colour does), if you want to feel relaxed in your bedroom, you might want to think about painting it a darker shade of blue or green. This is because the frequencies of these colours help us feel more relaxed than if we were to paint the room in, say a bright red. The darker shade helps us to wind down and go to sleep, while brighter colours motivate us to stay awake and alert. Of course, it’s all a matter of preference, but you understand what I’m trying to get at here right?
Colour Palettes – A Visual Aid
Ok, now we’ve finally moved on to actual colour palettes. So, now that we know that colour affects mood, emotion and states of mind, how can we use a colour palette to create a balance that helps us in art and design? So, if you haven’t read my previous article about colour theory (in the Get Crafty section), then I highly recommend you check that out. Essentially, colour theory is all about harmonising different groups of colours to create a balanced image. This can be done by using opposition colours or analogous colours. It just depends on what is appropriate for the moment. I mean, if you think about red and green, which are opposition colours, what does that remind you of? Let me add a little bit of gold and silver in there…those colours represent Christmas, right?
Choosing the right colour palettes, especially for your home can harmonise and balance the spaces you step in, and can elevate your home, in that it will look more elegant, unique or stylish. For example, if you’re going for a minimalistic look, you’re going to want to flood your home in homogeneous colours, like different shades of the same colour, but you’ll also need to offset that with some opposition in there. So, say for example, you want to flood your home in the colour blue, you’re going to want to add some bright oranges in there to harmonise and mute the colour, so it doesn’t overwhelm you. On the other hand, you don’t want too many contrasting colours, because then it’d be too busy. Even in maximalist homes there is a certain balance of colours too.
Generate Colour Palettes According To Mood and Purpose
Sometimes, it can be difficult to create your own colour palettes. After all, there are so many different shades of every colour, it’s difficult to pick a handful to create a palette. That’s why I use colour palette generators. They really help me when I’m stuck. Of course, I would already have a basic colour in mind to start off with, but knowing what to harmonise with it, to balance it out, can be tricky, especially if you don’t know how to describe the shade you’re looking for.
It's why I use Coolors (yes, this is a bit of an advert but trust me on this). Coolors is an amazing colour palette generator. I’ve used it before, on this website and in some of my other digital content, and I am not afraid to recommend it. You’ve got so many different options on how to create your colour palettes and what they could be used for. It’s how I create the palettes for my recent house builds. If I’m stuck for inspiration, I just click on their palette generator, and let it choose random colours that could inspire the build. If not, and I’ve already made something, I can use the image picker to find the main colours of the design I’m working with. It’s a great tool to have, when thinking about design, and it doesn’t have to just be for the home. It can be an aid to build a new brand look, an art piece or if you’re a tech developer, it can be used to create UI and other digital assets that can make your website or app easier to access.
Not only that, but if you already have a colour palette, you can test its contrast and its accessibility for those who are colour blind. It’s a great website to use and I highly recommend it, if you’re looking to find the right colour palette for your art or design projects, and as an affiliate, you can grab a healthy discount if you decide to sign up for a monthly or yearly membership with them (to access all their cool features), by using the referral link below.
So, What Are You Waiting For? Explore Your Own Colour Palettes!
I love playing around with this website. I’m not going to lie. It’s so much fun (especially the animated titles that light up with colour, every time you hover over them). I highly suggest you do too. Of course, don’t forget to mention me if you do decide to subscribe to their monthly or yearly plans, you won’t get your discount, otherwise.
Well, that’s it from me today, I’m going to go generate a random colour palette and see if I can build a house on The Sims 4, with it. While I go do that, please don’t forget to like, subscribe, comment, share and follow me, here on Feather’s Charm, on my YouTube channel, on my other social media channels (Instagram, Twitter/X, TikTok), and on Patreon. Your support really does help me make more content like this, for you guys.
And as always, be kind, be creative, and be unique.
I’ll see you later!
Feather, out!
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