Quit using Coolors for palette generation and started grabbing screenshots from movies instead

I used to spend 30 minutes cycling through random color generators like Coolors, never landing on anything that felt right for my branding work in Portland. Last month I pulled three frames from a Wong Kar-wai film and extracted their dominant hues in Photoshop, which gave me this rich teal and crimson combo that actually had emotional weight. It took maybe 10 minutes total and my client said it was the first palette that matched their vibe. Has anyone else tried pulling colors from specific films or scenes rather than relying on generators?

2 comments

2 Comments

milam423d ago

Oh, that's such a smart move. I've been doing the same thing with old noir films for my own projects and the contrast is just so much better than anything a generator spits out.

noahw533d ago

Milam42, you're out here hoarding all the good ideas and I'm just standing here with a phone full of terrible AI images that can't decide if shadows should go left or right. Maybe I should start digging through my dad's old VHS collection instead of relying on stuff that makes everything look like it was painted by a robot having a seizure. But seriously, you're right about the contrast thing - those old films had depth you just don't get anymore unless you're shooting on actual film stock. Keep it up, just don't make me look bad in the process.