Color Theory for the Web: Beyond the Color Wheel
The color wheel is where color theory starts, but web color decisions need more. Here is how I apply color theory to real interface work. Color theory is usually taught with a color wheel and a set of relationships: complementary, analogous, triadic. Those relationships are useful, but they are the beginning, not the end. Web color decisions involve contrast ratios, color spaces, perceived lightness, and context dependence that the wheel does not address. After years of making color decisions for interfaces, here is how I actually apply color theory to web work. Use HSL and LCH to Reason About Color Hex codes and RGB values describe what a color is, but they do not describe how it relates to other colors. Hue, saturation, and lightness in HSL let me reason about relationships. A palette where every color shares a hue family will feel cohesive. Adjusting lightness in consistent steps creates a scale that reads as intentional. LCH, which stands for lightness, chroma, and hue, is even better because its lightness axis matches human perception. Two colors with the same LCH lightness will appear equally bright to the eye, which makes building accessible palettes far easier. More guides are on the Spark Blog.