Introduction
When onboarding new clients who do not already have a color palette for their app, it's essential to establish a visually appealing and functional design. This guide will walk you through the process of creating a cohesive color palette, which plays a critical role in the user interface design. The palette will consist of three main categories of colors: Brand Colors, Supporting Colors, and Neutrals.
Step 1: Choose a Brand Color
Purpose: The brand color sets the overall vibe of the app and is used in key elements like buttons and navigation bars.
Process:
Start with choosing a brand color that represents the client's brand identity.
For more control, use HSB (Hue, Saturation, Brightness) values to adjust the color precisely.
Example: We'll use a purple hue as our primary brand color.
Step 2: Select Supporting Colors
Purpose: Supporting colors are used to communicate different types of information within the app.
Green: Success
Yellow: Warning
Red: Errors
Blue: Information
Process:
Choose supporting colors that complement your primary brand color in terms of saturation and brightness.
Ensure these colors are distinct enough to be easily differentiated but cohesive with the overall design.
Example: Supporting colors that harmonize with our purple brand color.
Step 3: Develop Color Shades
Purpose: Creating shades allows for versatility and depth in the app’s UI design.
Process:
Make 9 shades for each hue, ranging from 100 (lightest) to 900 (darkest) to provide a variety of intensity for different UI elements.
Example: Purple 100, Purple 200, ..., Purple 900.
Step 4: Create a Neutral Palette
Purpose: Neutrals dominate the UI without overpowering the primary and supporting colors.
Process:
Use a similar approach to create a grey palette, which will be used for text, backgrounds, and borders.
Develop a range from light greys to dark greys (e.g., Grey 100 to Grey 900).
Step 5: Integration and Testing
Purpose: To ensure all chosen colors work well together and maintain visual harmony across the app.
Process:
Integrate the selected colors into the app’s design mockups.
Perform compatibility tests to check how the colors appear in different components and under various lighting conditions.
Adjust as necessary to achieve the best overall aesthetic and functional balance.
Conclusion
Setting up a color palette is a fundamental step in app design that significantly affects user experience. By following these steps, you can help ensure that the app not only looks appealing but also functions effectively, providing clear information and cues to users through color.