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Let me tell you something about brand colors that, in my opinion, isn’t talked about enough. It’s as simple as this: they need to feel good to you.
Not just look good in a mood board. Not just follow all the rules. Not just being trendy. They need to be colors you actually want to see every single day.
If you’re a creative entrepreneur, especially one trying to run a business while dealing with kids, school, and all that normal life stuff, your brand colors are going to show up everywhere. Your website. Your Instagram. Product Mockups. Even your Canva templates.
With that said, I’ve learned through both motherhood and building my art business that anything you interact with needs to lift you up instead of bring you down. That belief shows up in how I approach my art, my business model, and my branding.
The perfect color palette isn’t just pretty or cohesive.
It’s functional and supports you emotionally.
I see this a lot in the art world: someone creates a gorgeous art piece, but the moment you stare at the finished product, something just feels off.
Here’s what I mean:
- Maybe there are too many competing colors
Everything’s bright and bold with no place for your eyes to rest. No neutrals to balance things out. - Maybe there isn’t a clear system
When your colors don’t have specific jobs like this is my hero color and these are my accents, your designs end up feeling a little chaotic instead of intentional. - Maybe that one color just doesn’t quite fit
You know the one. It throws the whole vibe off, but you can’t figure out why.
If using your brand colors feels frustrating, that’s not a you problem.
That’s a palette problem and, don’t worry, we can fix it.
A Strong Palette Makes A Design Feel Complete And Finished
Here’s what most branding advice misses: Your colors should make you happy.
I know that sounds simple, but think about it… if you don’t enjoy looking at your own brand, you’ll subconsciously avoid showing up. You’ll procrastinate on drawing your next piece. You’ll delay launching something new. Highly likely because you don’t care or aren’t invested but because your brand doesn’t feel like home.
This is the same philosophy behind my belief in “art that makes life pop.” Color isn’t just decoration; it’s emotional, expressive, and most of the time personal.
The best color palettes balance two things:
- Function — clarity, contrast, accessibility, and consistency across platforms
- Emotion — colors that energize you, inspire you, and feel authentically you
When those two align, creating becomes easier. You stop second guessing every design choice and your brand starts to feel cohesive without effort. Not to mention, it looks cohesive in all places.
Give Your Colors Actual Jobs (This Is a Game Changer)
One of the fastest ways to fix a messy palette? Assign them roles.
Every strong brand palette needs:
- Hero colors — Your main brand colors. Use them boldly.
- Supporting colors — Secondary tones that add depth and interest.
- Neutrals — Background shades that let everything else breathe and bring balance.
- Accent colors — Small pops for buttons, highlights, or emphasis.
Without clear roles, even gorgeous colors turn into messy visual noise.
And you end up stuck knowing something feels off but not really understanding why.
This same idea of intentional structure is what I rely on when building pattern collections that feel cohesive instead of chaotic which is why I break it down more in How to Build a Pattern Collection That Feels Cohesive.
How I Approached Color Without Overthinking It
When I was choosing my core color palette, I didn’t start from scratch.
I looked at my artwork as a whole and paid attention to the colors I naturally returned to again and again.
For me, those became my hero colors because I knew I really connected with those colors.
Because a core color palette doesn’t mean limiting yourself to only two or three colors, I needed to find a system that could help improve on what I already loved not replace it.
That’s when I started using The Color Palette Studio (affiliate link).
It’s designed to help fix or build your brand colors in about 60 seconds, and what makes it different is that it doesn’t just generate “pretty” palettes. It:
- Balances your palette automatically
- Tests for contrast and harmony
- Shows you exactly what’s not working
- Tells you how to fix it
It’s the first tool I’ve found that explains why something feels messy or off. This is incredibly helpful if you love your colors but are not formally trained in color theory (like me).
Most artists struggle not because they lack good taste, but because not all of us understand what color theory is and the role it has in things like balance, contrast, hierarchy, and accessibility. These things can be hard to spot just by looking.
For me, this made things so much more clear. It helped me to stop doubting every choice and start creating with confidence.
And as someone building a brand while juggling motherhood, limited time, and the need to “free” my creative energy, having a system that helped me make decisions easier is a big deal.
Final Thoughts
To end this post, I want to leave you with these words. The perfect color palette isn’t about trends or rigid rules.
It’s about:
- Balance
- Clarity
- Accessibility
- And, in my opinion the most important, Emotional connection
When your colors are intentional, joyful and make you feel good, your brand becomes easier to maintain and is FAR more recognizable.
If your palette feels off, that doesn’t mean you failed, you just need a little refinement.
Tools like The Color Palette Studio (affiliate link) exist to make that process faster, clearer, and less overwhelming.
Your brand deserves colors that work — and colors that make you smile every time you see them.
As Always…THANKS FOR READING!!
Alicia
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