Choosing a color palette can be a tricky and time-consuming task. To save you time on your next design project, we’ve asked some very popular designers to share their favorites color palettes. Check them all below and download for free.

Playful Palette by Lisa Glanz

Lisa Glanz loves the combinations of mustard, brown, cream pink, blush and mint and everything that has that 70s vibe.

Flowers and Flamingos Palette by Kris Lauren

Kris Lauren tends to gravitate towards cooler colors and mostly goes for the pink, purple, and blue side of the color wheel, and prefers muted tones. She admits that she rarely uses vibrant colors like orange, unless they are necessary.

Kris’ tips for finding a great color palette:

“I visualize the overall mood and feel what I’d like to create and what would be appropriate for the subject matter, then (depending on the medium) mix up the colors that feel right.”

Earthy Colour Palette by Creators Couture

Jessica Johnson reveals that she doesn’t have a favorite color palette as she loves “exploring color combinations way too much to stick to a single palette.”

She is constantly inspired by the latest fashion trends, and she recently created this earthy palette which she shared with her Instagram audience.

Jessica’s tips for finding a great color palette:

“I mainly use photographs for inspiration. I often will use the eyedropper tool and adjust the sample size up to a larger radius to get a better color than if I just sample an individual point.”

Tropical Colour Palette by Denise Anne

Denise Anne‘s favorite color palette includes blue-greens, golden yellows, and coraly pinks. She will use this palette in most of her work, as these are happy colors and remind her of sunshine.

Denise’s tips for finding a great color palette:

“Once you have established the theme and mood, your colors should have a light and dark version to allow for contrast. For illustrations, you should have a minimum of two values for each hue. But three is what I like to use most, and four values will give you really great gradations for the eyes to rest on.”

Early 20th Century Palette by Jeremy Child

When it comes to choosing colors, Jeremy Child reveals: “I’m a big fan of early to mid-century soft, vintage color palettes. In particular, turquoises. If I start a design without an idea of the color, I will almost always add turquoise and take it from there!”

Jeremy’s tips for finding a great color palette:

“Use a color wheel. It may sound like basic design knowledge but it’s the quickest and most effective way to quickly choose complimentary colours.”

Colour Palettes by Julia Dreams

Julia Dreams uses mostly pastels and muted colors in her work, but she likes to experiment with other colors too. She admits that some color palettes take more time to create than others, but sometimes she knows exactly what colors she likes to use. For example, when creating her product ‘North Dream Collection’ she knew the color palette would include a shade of red, blue and black.

Julia’s tips for finding a great color palette:

“After traveling to the Spanish island, I was so inspired by the nature and architecture of this island, and immediately after returning I created a collection of “South Dream Collection” and used the colors from the photo.”

Color Palette by Holly Pixels

For her brand, Holly Pixels likes to use soft pastel tones and she tends to stick to these when she creates work for her Instagram feed or her own products, like the enamel pins and stickers. For other products, like the ones she is making for her digital planners, she loves more vibrant colors and admits she rarely goes for dark and muted colors.

Holly’s tips for finding a great color palette:

“Start with base colors and then see which shades of each color work well overall. So, if I choose a pink I tend to pick one or two other shades of that, so I have options for shading my illustrations.”

Color Palette by Twigs and Twine

Laura tells us that even though she doesn’t have a favorite color palette, she prefers the softer shades.

Laura’s tips for finding a great color palette:

“I draw inspiration from the patterns in clothing that I love for example, or in other artwork. Photographs in lifestyle books and magazines are also a great resource when I need to actively get some inspiration.”

Colour Palette by Meg Ladoodle

Meg Ladoodle really likes bright, vibrant colors which can be seen in her example below.

Meg’s tips for finding a great color palette:

“Look for inspiration in other design work, that’s different to your style of design/illustration. That way you can use the colour palette combined with your own style to create something new and unique.”

A Bonus Procreate Colour Palette

Courtesy of Delightful Design, we bring you a beautiful set of 80+ harmonious colour palettes, specifically for Procreate users, that are genre-specific (eg. for landscapes, still life, portraits, metallics, pop art, art deco, and so on). We hope you enjoy them!

Resources for finding colour palettes

Color Collective
Love Print Studio
Design Seeds
Colour Palettes
Lisa’s Pinterest Board
A Dictionary of Color Combinations
Adobe Colour Wheel