How to choose a brand colour palette from scratch

Edara Akpan · Aug 13, 2026 · 3 min read

Most brand colours are chosen the same way: someone picks a shade they like, someone else says it looks nice, and the palette is “done”. Six months later the website, the social posts and the packaging all use slightly different versions, and nothing quite matches.

A better palette starts with decisions, not shades.

Step 1: Start with personality, not colour

Before you look at a single swatch, write down three words for how the brand should feel, for example “calm, precise, premium”. Every colour you consider has to support those words. If you have not done this yet, answer these five brand strategy questions first.

Step 2: Look at your category

Collect the colours your competitors use. You will usually spot a convention, such as blues and greens in banking or earth tones in natural skincare.

Following a convention helps customers understand what you sell at a glance. Breaking it can help you stand out, but only if the result still feels appropriate for the product. Decide which you are doing, and why. The research behind this idea is covered in colour psychology in branding.

Step 3: Give every colour a job

A palette is a team, and every member needs a role:

• Primary colour: the colour people should remember. It leads on the logo, key headings and packaging
• Secondary colour: supports the primary and adds range
• Accent colour: used sparingly for buttons, highlights and calls to action
• Neutrals: a very light colour, a very dark colour and a mid-tone. These do most of the work, because most of any design is background and text

Two or three brand colours plus two or three neutrals is enough for almost every small business. More colours usually means less consistency.

Step 4: Use proportions as a starting point

A common rule of thumb, borrowed from interior design, is 60-30-10: about 60 per cent of a layout in the dominant colour (often a neutral), 30 per cent in the secondary colour and 10 per cent in the accent. It is not a law, but it stops a palette from fighting itself.

Step 5: Test it where it will actually live

Before you commit, check the palette:

• In black and white. If everything turns into the same grey, your colours lack tonal contrast and designs will look flat
• At small sizes. Look at the logo as a social media avatar and as a browser tab icon
• Next to competitors. Does it look like you, or like the category?
• On real surfaces. A website, a label, a shopping bag and a phone screen all show colour differently
• For readability. Text and background pairs need enough contrast (see the contrast guide)
• In print. Some bright screen colours cannot be reproduced exactly with ink (RGB and CMYK explained)

An example of a documented palette

This is an illustrative palette for an imaginary skincare brand. The point is the structure, not the shades.

Record every colour in HEX and RGB for screens and in CMYK (plus Pantone, if you print often) for print, so nobody has to guess later.

Common mistakes

• Choosing by personal favourite instead of audience and category
• Using too many colours
• Following a trend that will look dated within two years
• Forgetting neutrals and light and dark variants
• Never writing the values down