Primary Colors: Your Brand Foundation
The single most important color decision you'll make.
What Is a Primary Color in Design?
In design systems, your primary color isn't about the color wheel (red, yellow, blue). It's the dominant brand color that appears most frequently and carries your brand identity. When people think of your brand, this is the color they picture.
Your primary color typically accounts for 30% of your palette usage (following the 60-30-10 rule) — making it the most prominent intentional color after your neutral backgrounds.
Famous Primary Colors
Blue conveys trust, connection, and reliability
Spotify
Green suggests growth, freshness, and energy
Netflix
Red creates urgency, excitement, and passion
Twitch
Purple represents creativity, gaming culture, and uniqueness
Choosing Your Primary Color
- 1
Start with emotion
What feeling should your brand evoke? Trust (blue), energy (orange), growth (green)? See our Color Psychology guide.
- 2
Consider industry context
Follow convention for trust, break it for differentiation. Research your competitors' colors.
- 3
Test for versatility
Your primary will appear on light backgrounds, dark backgrounds, as text, and as buttons. It needs to work everywhere.
- 4
Check accessibility
Ensure your primary has sufficient contrast against white and near-white backgrounds. WCAG guidelines require 4.5:1 for text.
Where to Use Your Primary Color
Find Your Perfect Primary
Describe your brand personality and our AI will suggest primary colors that match your identity.
Generate Brand Palette