Bold Color Palettes: 16 Loud Brand Palettes and the Colors That Hold Them

A bold color palette is not a set of loud colors. It is one loud color and two quiet ones that let it be loud without taking over. Here are sixteen of them, in four families, with every hex code and the rule that makes each one work for a logo.

The rule behind all sixteen

Loud colors are easy to find. Using one for a brand is harder, because a color that bright has to sit next to text, packaging, a website and a logo, every day. Left alone it shouts at all of them.

So every palette here has three jobs filled.

The loud color is the one people remember. The deep color, usually a near-black or a dark version of a hue, is what a wordmark is set in. The soft color, a cream, a pale tint or an off-white, is the ground the other two sit on. In a few of them, Barberry, Rio Red and Tomato among them, the loud color is dark enough to carry the type itself, so it does two jobs.

The fourth tile under each palette shows the pairing a logo would use. Each one is built from the palette itself, with no white or black added.

Loud on purpose

Four hero colors that would take over a room if you let them. Each gets two colors to keep it honest: one deep enough to set a mark in, one soft enough to breathe around it.

Persimmon

#2D3036

Vulcan

#FF5C34

Persimmon

#F3EEE7

Sugar Swizzle

Persimmon

Persimmon on Vulcan

A hot orange with a cool dark. Vulcan is a blue-gray, not a black, so the orange looks warmer next to it.

Maize

#6F3503

Cold Press Coffee

#EEC843

Maize

#F6E199

Lemon Meringue

Maize

Cold Press Coffee on Maize

A bright yellow needs a real dark. Maize comes with Cold Press Coffee and not with white, because a wordmark set on a yellow this light disappears unless the ink is properly deep.

Charisma

#632A60

Charisma

#D3D95F

Limeade

#F5ECD2

Winter White

Charisma

Limeade on Charisma

Here the deep color is the hue. Charisma is a dark plum that can carry type on its own, and Limeade is the loud note on top of it.

Barberry

#BF1945

Barberry

#D9CE52

Green Sheen

#ECD6D6

Mauve Morn

Barberry

Mauve Morn on Barberry

Two loud colors in one palette, held apart by a pale mauve. Use Barberry for the mark and keep Green Sheen small: a foil, a sticker, a detail.

One loud color, two quiet ones

The same rule, pushed further. Each of these has one very saturated color held between two near-neutrals.

Ultrasonic

#0C10E3

Ultrasonic Blue

#D1B17C

Soft Fawn

#F8E6D2

Antique White

Ultrasonic

Antique White on Ultrasonic Blue

Ultrasonic Blue is about as saturated as a screen blue gets. On its own it looks like a warning light. Between Antique White and Soft Fawn, it looks like a brand.

Jester Red

#26262A

Black Beauty

#9E1030

Jester Red

#F1E8DF

Gardenia

Jester Red

Gardenia on Jester Red

A deep red between two near-neutrals. Black Beauty is softer than pure black, which keeps the red from looking harsh, and there is still plenty of contrast for text.

Periwinkle

#0D3B66

Regal Navy

#9381FF

Soft Periwinkle

#FAF0CA

Lemon Chiffon

Periwinkle

Soft Periwinkle on Regal Navy

Soft Periwinkle is loud but light, so it needs Regal Navy to sit on. Lemon Chiffon warms the whole set up.

Dream Blue

#2B272B

Black Onyx

#A0BCD0

Dream Blue

#BBCBDC

Winter Scene

Dream Blue

Black Onyx on Dream Blue

The quiet one out: two soft blues and a near-black. Here the near-black does all the work, and every mark goes in Black Onyx.

None of the darks in these palettes is pure black. A near-black reads just as clearly and looks less severe next to a loud color.

Four reds, four moods

Red is four colors, not one. Windsor Wine leans cool, Tomato leans warm, and Rumba Red and Rio Red sit in between, which is where most brand reds live. The mood comes from the partner as much as from the red: wine gets a cream, tomato gets a peach.

Windsor Wine

#582B36

Windsor Wine

#B45865

Slate Rose

#F0EADA

Vanilla Ice

Windsor Wine

Vanilla Ice on Windsor Wine

A cool wine red with a dusty rose. Quiet enough for a restaurant or a wine label, with Vanilla Ice for the type.

Rumba Red

#363031

Espresso

#7C2439

Rumba Red

#F0EADA

Vanilla Ice

Rumba Red

Vanilla Ice on Rumba Red

Espresso and Rumba Red are almost the same lightness. That makes a lovely tone-on-tone pattern, and it means you never set one as text on the other. Text goes in Vanilla Ice.

Rio Red

#8A2232

Rio Red

#E2C1C0

Lotus

#F1E6DE

Sea Salt

Rio Red

Sea Salt on Rio Red

A classic deep brand red, softened by a pale pink and a warm off-white. The red does the talking, the pinks keep it friendly.

Tomato

#CE2939

Tomato

#F8D5B8

Tender Peach

#F3EEE7

Sugar Swizzle

Tomato

Sugar Swizzle on Tomato

The warmest and brightest red here. Tomato on its pale partners only just reads for small text, so use it for big marks and headlines, and set body text in a darker color.

For how famous brands tune their reds for screen and print, see our paper on brand red.

Acid colors need a dark

Four bright yellow-greens. They make great logos as long as nobody asks them to work alone, because they are loud and light at the same time.

Lemon Drop

Lemon Drop on Lemon Icing

Lemon Drop

Lemon Drop on Vulcan

That is the rule for a mark in a bright color: bright on dark, or dark on bright. Never bright on light.

Green Sheen

#2B2C30

Stretch Limo

#D9CE52

Green Sheen

#F0EDE5

Coconut Milk

Green Sheen

Green Sheen on Stretch Limo

A yellow-green on a cool near-black. Coconut Milk is the ground for everything that is not the logo.

Limeade

#64313E

Burgundy

#D3D95F

Limeade

#F0EFE2

Cannoli Cream

Limeade

Limeade on Burgundy

Limeade on Burgundy instead of black. A dark warm red behind an acid green is louder and friendlier than a black would be.

Green Oasis

#23312D

Scarab

#B0B454

Green Oasis

#E7EACB

Sylvan Green

Green Oasis

Green Oasis on Scarab

The calmest of the four. Green Oasis is an olive, and Scarab is a deep green-black, so the whole set stays in one family.

Lemon Drop

#2D3036

Vulcan

#FDD878

Lemon Drop

#F6EBC8

Lemon Icing

Lemon Drop

Lemon Drop on Vulcan

The lightest yellow here, and the one that most needs its dark. On Lemon Icing it vanishes; on Vulcan it glows.

All sixteen palettes in one table

How to use a bold palette for your brand

1. Give the loud color one job. The logo, the packaging hero, the one button. Everywhere else it appears small.
2. Set the wordmark in the deep color on light grounds, or in the loud color on the deep one.
3. Use the soft color as the page. Most of what people see of your brand is background, and a cream or a pale tint is calmer than pure white.
4. Test it in one color first. If the logo only works in the loud color, it will fail on a fax, a stamp or a dark photo. Our brand color palette paper covers the full system.

Get the files for each family

Each family is a free color set on Forge, with tap-to-copy codes, swatch files for Figma and Adobe (ASE), CSS variables and design tokens.

Free color set

Loud on purpose: Persimmon, Maize, Charisma, Barberry

Every hex, plus ASE swatches, CSS variables and design tokens.

Open the set

Free color set

One loud color: Ultrasonic, Jester Red, Periwinkle, Dream Blue

Every hex, plus ASE swatches, CSS variables and design tokens.

Open the set

Free color set

Four reds: Windsor Wine, Rumba Red, Rio Red, Tomato

Every hex, plus ASE swatches, CSS variables and design tokens.

Open the set

Free color set

Acid colors: Green Sheen, Limeade, Green Oasis, Lemon Drop

Every hex, plus ASE swatches, CSS variables and design tokens.

Open the set

FAQ

What is a bold color palette?

A bold color palette is built around one saturated, attention-grabbing color, such as a hot orange, a deep red or an acid green. The palettes that work for brands pair that color with a deep color for text and a soft one for backgrounds.

What colors go well with a bright brand color?

A near-black or a dark version of a hue for text and marks, and a cream or pale tint for backgrounds. Persimmon #FF5C34 with Vulcan #2D3036 and Sugar Swizzle #F3EEE7 is a good example.

Can I use a bright yellow or green in a logo?

Yes, but put it on a dark background or set the mark in a dark color on top of it. A bright yellow or acid green on white or cream almost disappears.

What is a good red color palette for a brand?

Pick the red by mood, then pick its partners. A cool wine like Windsor Wine #582B36 suits a quiet, premium brand. A warm Tomato #CE2939 suits a loud, friendly one. Both need a pale partner for type.

Are these color palettes free to use?

Yes. The hex codes are free to use in any project, and each family is a free download on Forge with swatch files and CSS.

Sources

• Color names and hex codes from the palette cards on our team's color board, checked against the published Forge color sets.
• Readability of each pairing checked with the WCAG 2 contrast formula. Tomato on Sugar Swizzle scores 4.5 to 1, the minimum for body text. Espresso on Rumba Red scores 1.3 to 1, which is why the two are never used as text on each other.
• First published as four carousels on Logo Brainy: Loud on purpose, One loud colour, Four reds and Acid colours.