Choosing a color palette for your brand sounds like it should be pretty simple, but with so many options AND so many distractions out there it can become quite the challenge.

Does this happen to you…When you find yourself playing designer, you never really LOVE what you make. Ugh. And then, when using pre-made templates, you’re left with non-matching colors on the regular and you just want everything to to be pretty + match your brand’s vibe…amiright?

Well don’tcha worry m’dear…I’m going to show you a quick and easy way to choose a color palette, for that awesome brand of yours, and put this color struggle to rest.

Follow these steps to create the PERFECT color palette for your brand:

STEP 1: Find a photo that you absolutely LOVE

This photo should inspire you and speak to your overall brand vision and vibe in every way.

I use Unsplash’s free photo database any time I use a photo I didn’t take myself. I highly recommend saving a few to a Pinterest board so you can collect all your favorites in one spot. Here is my Color Palette Pinterest Board if you want some colorful options.

Once you have some photos to choose from, select your favorite. From this pic we are going to choose 5-6 colors that will become your new palette.

*pro tip: I always choose 6 colors because I LOVE options heehee. AND I make my 7th color white and 8th color black or a version of gray depending on what goes best with the rest of the palette.

STEP 1.5: Can’t choose only one pic that you LOVE?

If you are having trouble with this, you may use a couple of photos that give you all the feels, after step 2 you may change your mind because sometimes a photo is beautiful but doesn’t have the colors you really want. Try a couple until you are absolutely digging it!

STEP 2: Use a color palette generator

This is the fastest, easiest and FREE way to get the color codes from the image you selected…open Adobe Color CC and click on the lil’ camera icon to upload your photo from step 1. BOOM! It will automatically create a color palette with the best colors for you. Isn’t that great?!

Choose from the drop down in the top left to adjust the style (custom, muted, bright etc) and see which one is your favorite. You can also manually move the little ‘+ circles’ around to make adjustments.

If the colors are too bold or just not exactly what you want, you can choose the ‘Color Wheel’ feature.

Here, you are able to fine tune each color until it is PERFECT for your brand. Be sure to keep track of the final hex codes (each color has a 6 digit code called HEX) that you choose. These can be used in any program, including Canva, to customize all future design-related items to have your new brand color palette. YAAAAASSSS!

STEP 3: Perfect your color palette

Now, let’s triple check that this color scheme is exactly what you want. Make sure you are choosing colors that you LOVE but WON’T get tired of. I can put color palettes together all day, but it doesn’t mean that I will love them forever.

I know you don’t have a crystal ball, but if you are on the fence, look at these colors daily while working on other projects until you are certain that you love them.

Also, consider your message and brand’s mood and tone – does this color selection match it? Will your ideal clients and readers be drawn to this palette? You need to like it but your audience needs to really like it too.

Are these colors that you see in your niche a ton? I know I see I ton of black/white/pink/cream/gold combinations in the blogging world for example. There is nothing wrong with that, but you do want to make this palette your own.

If your biz community tends to use these same colors just slightly adjust a couple of the colors to make your palette stand out and be more unique. Bottom line, mix it up until you love this palette in every way.