Color Trends in Graphic Design: How to Choose the Right Palette?

Have you ever imagined a design without colors? It’s impossible. Even black and white are colors, too, aren’t they? As a designer, if you don’t give importance to colors, then you will always face difficulty in making a “Perfect” design. Whether you just started your graphic design training or are already working as a designer, it is a must to know about the power of color. This blog has brought the top color trends in graphic design and useful discussion on the design element “COLOR”.

The Power of Color in Graphic Design

color trends and color selection in graphic design

Color plays an important role in making a design creative, attractive, and functional. Using colors related to the name of a company will leave a good impression. You can see that brands use colors according to their work and services. For example, Fanta uses orange because it gives a refreshing and cool vibe, and the color of the drink is also orange. Pepsi uses blue and red in combination, which is a complimentary color scheme. This color scheme is known to attract youths due to its high contrast.

What is Color?

Light has various tones, and color helps you to see those tones. It has three main characters:

Hue— Hue is the second name of color. Like we say, “The color of the sky is blue”; here, we can also write, “The hue of the sky is blue”. It conveys the same meaning.
Saturation—Another term is saturation, which shows the purest form of a color. If the saturation is high, the color will appear bright and natural, but if it is low, the color will appear dull and fade.
Brightness— The third term is brightness. With the help of brightness, you can see different shades of a color from lighter to darker. If the brightness is high, the color will appear lighter, but if the brightness is low, the color will appear darker.

Understanding the Color Wheel and Color Schemes

A color wheel is a diagram that shows the different shades of a color from lighter to darker. It generally has 12 hues. Through this wheel, we can easily observe the relationship between the individual hues.

Key Components of the Color Wheel:

Below are three main components that form the entire wheel.

Primary colors– Red, Yellow, and Blue (These colors are naturally created by nature and cannot be created by mixing 2 colors)
Secondary colors– Orange, Green, and Purple (Violet) (These colors are formed by blending 2 primary colors)
Tertiary colors– Red-Orange, Yellow-Green, and Blue-Purple (These colors are made by merging primary and secondary colors)

Common Color Schemes

The color wheel is the main tool that helps designers to form different types of color schemes. These schemes are the popular harmonious combinations of 2 or more colors presented on the wheel. We mix hues from both families (warm and cool) to give a vibrant and cheerful feel. When using colors from the same family, we see an intense and stable color combination.

Though there are 7-8 color schemes, let’s talk about the individual types below.

Complementary – Complementary scheme is made up of hues which are exactly opposite to each other in terms of cool and warm family e.g. Red & Green. Here, Red comes from a warm family, and Green comes from a cool family on the wheel.
Analogous – An Analogous scheme is formed with three colors that correspond or next to each other on the wheel. They also blend well together and give a smooth texture e.g. Red – Orange – Yellow.
Triadic – The triadic scheme also includes 3 colors, but it is different from analogous. In triadic, we pick hues which are evenly placed on the wheel e.g. Red – Yellow – Blue or Orange – Green – Purple.
Tetradic – It is so easy to use the tetradic scheme as it forms with 4 colors, which are actually the two complementary colors. So, just pick two complementary pairs like Green & Blue one side and Red & Orange on other side.
Monochromatic – Monochromatic is one of the most used color schemes. Mono means single; thus, here in this scheme, we use a single hue with its different tints and tones

There is much more to explore yet.

Emerging Color Trends in Graphic Design in 2025

1. Earthy Tones and Natural Hues

We see designers using earthy tones and natural hues a lot these days. Earthy tones and natural hues are related to the earth or nature. They connect the design with nature and give a natural and relaxing vibe. Olive green, peachy pink, copen blue, and much more. These tones are mostly preferred for interior design, fashion design, branding, etc.

2. Mocha Mousse: The Color of the Year

Have you heard of Mocha Mousse before? Please comment to us as we would like to know about it from you. This color is similar to a brown shade, has texture, and gives a very smooth and creamy vibe. Similar to our first trend, Mocha Mousse goes very well with fashion designing and is attracting attention from fashion designers. Cloths comings in Mocha Mousse shade give a rich and classy feeling.

3. Vibrant and Bold Palettes

Vibrant colors have a special place in the hearts of people in the current era. That is why designers are moving towards vibrant and bold palettes, as they are attractive and look bold. They also show excitement, energy, passion, etc. People feel refreshed with the vibrant, bright, and eye-catching hues. So, designers, you must follow this color trend.

4. Gradients and Color Transitions

How can we skip gradients in the list? Gradients are always been a part of every important trend. They improve depth and present a flawless transition between different colors in designs.

5. Eco-Conscious Design Palettes

Eco-conscious design palettes align very well with sustainability and environmental awareness. These palettes present natural, earthy, minimal, neutral shades and tones. We see their use in packaging, branding, and product development. Even in interior designing you can find them easily these days.

Some of the examples of these eco-conscious palettes are clay red, moss green, oceanic blue, leafy green, floral hues, etc.

Principles of Choosing the Right Color Palette

There are some important principles you need to follow while making or choosing a color palette for the project. Let’s find them below.

1. Learn Basic Color Theory

First of all, you need to give time to learn color theory. It is one of the easiest ways to understand how to create a balance between color and design.

2. Consider the Psychological Effects of Color

A designer should understand what kind of emotion and role a color plays. Each hue conveys a different mood or emotion. As we can see in traffic lights, red means STOP as it is related to warnings and danger and shows the need to halt. On the other hand, green is for GO because it contrasts with red and also shows movement and safety.

A few more examples:

Yellow – Happiness, Cheer, and Creativity
Purple – Royalty, Luxury, and Ambition
Blue – Peace, Loyalty, and Trust

3. Match Colors with Brand Identity

While choosing a color palette, observe the services and the work of the company. Every organization serves a purpose, and so do colors. Thus, decide the color palette accordingly, as it will be a powerful tool to represent the brand identity.

4. Think About Cultural Meanings

Creating design culturally means you understand the meaning of color in different cultures as well. For example, in western culture white color represents peace whereas in Asian culture it means mourning.

Useful Tools for Choosing Colors

We are mentioning some tools below from where you can choose effective colors for your design.

Adobe Color – This is a free tool from Adobe that helps in generating beautiful palettes based on the harmony rule. Try it on color.adobe.com

Coolors – This is Another good tool for you where you can get help from AI to generate a palette quickly without spending much time. Visit Coolers to see how it works.

Color Hunt – There is a big collection of ready-made color palettes for use. Check your pallet on Colorhunt.co

Material Design Palette – In this tool, you will be able to choose particular hues, and then the website will generate downloadable pallets with a nice preview. Check more
material palette

Canva Color Palette Generator – Canva brought this tool for designers and artists to pick up the right hues from any image. Visit Canva to try it out yourself.

Closing Words on Color Trends in Graphic Design

To create a design, your first step is to select a suitable color palette for your project. When you know which hue you have to use, you can create a design easily, and this will save you time as well. By understanding and following the points mentioned above, you can easily transform into a professional designer. It will leave a good impression of your personality as a designer.

To get more tips and tricks from experts, check out our most in-demand diploma course in digital media and graphics.

So, whether it is about graphic designing, UI designing, web designing, or branding, colors play an important role. If the color does not match the brand identity, it will be a huge loss to a brand. So, designers, start paying attention from today.

Thanks for reading. Let us know your views in the comments below.