Secondary Colors: The Supporting Cast
Creating depth without stealing the spotlight.
The Role of Secondary Colors
If your primary color is the lead actor, secondary colors are the supporting cast. They add visual interest, create hierarchy, and prevent your design from feeling monotonous — all while letting your primary color remain the star.
Secondary colors typically appear in section backgrounds, cards, badges, and other UI elements that need distinction but shouldn't overpower the primary brand color.
Strategies for Choosing Secondary Colors
1. Analogous Approach
Choose a color adjacent to your primary on the wheel. Creates a cohesive, harmonious feel.
2. Complementary Approach
Choose the opposite color on the wheel. Creates energy and contrast.
3. Tonal Approach
Use a desaturated or lighter version of your primary. Subtle and unified.
Learn more about these relationships in our Color Harmony guide.
Where to Use Secondary Colors
How Many Secondary Colors?
Most brands work well with 1-2 secondary colors. More than that, and your palette becomes difficult to manage consistently.
1 Secondary
Clean, focused, easy to maintain. Works for most brands.
2 Secondaries
More variety for complex products. Requires more design discipline.
Generate Harmonious Palettes
Our AI creates palettes with primary and secondary colors that work together beautifully.
Create Your Palette