Finally found a trick for picking accent colors that actually works

I spent like 2 hours last week staring at a client's brand colors trying to find an accent that didn't clash. Stumbled onto this trick where you pull the complementary color from the color wheel then shift it just one notch toward the neighbor. It made this boring blue pop against a warm orange accent in 5 minutes flat. Has anyone else got a weird shortcut for accent colors or am I the only one overthinking this?

2 comments

2 Comments

pipergonzalez15d agoMost Upvoted

OH this one gets me fired up. That trick is solid but honestly I just use the laziest shortcut ever - I look at the brand color's opposite on the wheel and then desaturate it a ton. Works EVERY time for me and I never have to second guess myself. Your method sounds way more official than my half baked approach though.

holly4714d ago

Wait, you're telling me you just desaturate the opposite color and call it a day? @pipergonzalez, I'm genuinely shook. That's like cooking a gourmet meal with just salt and pepper and somehow it still tastes amazing. I've been here doing color theory calculus in my head, pulling up reference palettes, the whole nine yards. Meanwhile you're over there with what sounds like a cheat code. I'm trying this on my next project for sure, even if it feels like pure heresy.