The color wheel, briefly
Every harmony mode below works by picking hues at specific angles around a color wheel, where hue is measured in degrees from 0° to 360°. Saturation and lightness stay closer to constant within a mode; it's the hue relationships that define each harmony.
Complementary
Two colors sitting directly opposite each other on the wheel, 180° apart. This is the highest-contrast pairing available and tends to make both colors look more vivid next to each other. Good for: calls to action, sports branding, anywhere you want one element to visually pop against another.
Analogous
Colors sitting next to each other on the wheel, roughly 30° apart. Because the hues are close together, analogous palettes read as calm and cohesive rather than high-contrast. Good for: nature-themed designs, backgrounds, anywhere you want harmony over drama.
Triadic
Three colors evenly spaced around the wheel, 120° apart. This keeps some of complementary's vibrancy while adding a third point of contrast, which tends to feel more playful and balanced than a straight two-color complementary pairing. Good for: creative portfolios, playful brands.
Tetrad (Rectangle)
Two complementary pairs, but spaced unevenly around the wheel (not 90° apart) so the four colors form a rectangle rather than a square. This is the harmony mode with the most color variety, which also makes it the easiest to unbalance — usually works best with one color as dominant and the other three as accents.
Square
Four colors evenly spaced around the wheel, 90° apart. Compared to tetrad, the even spacing makes square palettes feel more balanced and less likely to have one hue accidentally dominate.
Split-Complementary
A base color plus the two colors adjacent to its direct complement, rather than the complement itself. This keeps much of complementary's contrast while softening it slightly, since neither of the two accent colors is at the harshest possible angle from the base.
Monochrome
A single hue expressed across five different lightness values, from dark to light, with saturation held constant. No hue variation at all — the most cohesive and lowest-contrast of the eight modes, which is exactly what makes it read as elegant and minimal rather than flat.
Random
Five independently chosen colors from across the spectrum, with no harmony rule constraining them. Useful for breaking out of a rut or discovering combinations you wouldn't have picked deliberately — not a substitute for the other seven modes when you need a specific, coherent relationship between colors.
Where to go next
Once you've generated a palette using any of the modes above, check your text/background pairings against the contrast checker, get exact codes in any format from the color converter, or see what your colors tend to communicate on the color meanings page.
Sources
- Color wheel fundamentals and harmony rulesGeneral, widely-taught color theory conventions, not attributed to a single publisher.