The Designer's Guide to Color: Making Smart Choices That Connect
Ever stared at a design wondering why something just feels... off? Nine times out of ten, it's the colors. Color is one of those magical design elements that works silently in the background, shaping emotions, guiding attention, and even convincing people to click that button. But here's the thing: choosing colors isn't about what looks "pretty" to you. It's about understanding how colors work together and what they communicate to your users. Why Color Theory Still Matters Think of color theory as your cheat sheet for making smart design decisions. It's basically a collection of principles that help us understand which colors play nicely together and which ones clash like cats and dogs. Isaac Newton kicked this whole thing off back in 1672 when he created the first color wheel. Fun fact: he chose seven colors for the rainbow because he wanted it to match the seven notes in a musical scale. Not exactly scientific, but it stuck. Today's color wheels...