Stumbled on a color cheat sheet at a workshop in Portland last month

I went to a beginner design workshop at a community center in Portland last month, and the instructor handed out this simple color wheel card with 6 basic pairings. It showed me how to pick complementary colors without guessing, which saved my latest flyer from looking like a mess. Has anyone else found a small tool like that that just clicked for their work?

2 comments

2 Comments

willow_anderson852d ago

Did you try telling @ray210 that my buddy Mark used one of those exact cheat sheets to finally stop making wedding invites that looked like clown vomit? Sometimes a simple starting point helps you learn faster than drowning in trial and error.

ray2103d ago

Oh come on, color wheels are a crutch and they hold you back from developing a real EYE for design. Relying on some printed card with 6 generic pairings is like using training wheels forever - you never learn to balance on your own. Real designers don't need a cheat sheet to know what colors work because they develop instinct through trial and error. Those basic complementary pairs always look safe and boring, never surprising or memorable. You're better off studying real posters or album covers and figuring out WHY those color combos work rather than copying from a piece of cardboard. That workshop set you up to keep playing it safe instead of taking risks that make your work stand out.