Crayon Box

The three properties

Hue

— the color itself: red, teal, violet, and so on. It's the position on the color wheel.

Saturation

— how intense or muted a color is. High saturation looks vivid; low saturation looks grayish.

Lightness / Value

— how close a color sits to black or white.

Tint, tone, shade

Add white to a hue and you get a tint. Add gray and you get a tone. Add black and you get a shade. Most usable palettes lean on tones — pure hues read as loud or plastic.

Common schemes

Complementary

— two hues opposite each other on the wheel. High contrast, great for a focal accent.

Analogous

— three hues sitting side by side. Calm, cohesive, low tension.

Triadic

— three hues spaced evenly (120° apart). Balanced and vibrant.

Split-complementary

— a base hue plus the two neighbors of its complement. Contrast with less tension.

Monochromatic

— one hue carried across several tints, tones, and shades. Safest route to cohesion.

Building a palette that works

A useful starting ratio is roughly 60% dominant color, 30% secondary, 10% accent. Keep saturation restrained across most of a layout and spend your most saturated color on the smallest area — it reads as intentional rather than overwhelming. Always check contrast between text and background for legibility, not just visual taste.