Paint Palette

Last reviewed on 24 April 2026

A classic paint palette built from the pure primaries — red, yellow, and blue — together with pure green and white. Not intended as a production brand palette, but as a reference for teaching colour theory and for bold, primary-driven illustration.

#FF0000

Red

#FFFF00

Yellow

#0000FF

Blue

#00FF00

Green

#FFFFFF

White

About this palette

Every colour-theory book starts with the primaries. On screen those primaries are technically red, green, and blue (RGB), while in traditional painting the classic primaries are red, yellow, and blue (RYB). This palette includes both sets in their purest digital form so the differences between the two models are easy to see.

Because pure primaries are so saturated, they rarely work as a production web palette on their own — the combined contrast is too loud for reading. Used in education, illustration, and children's design, though, they're one of the most useful reference palettes a designer can keep handy.

Best used for

Colour-theory teaching

Classroom resources, lesson slides, and explainer videos where the primaries are the subject.

Children's illustration

Picture books, toys, and early-learning apps where saturated primaries are part of the vocabulary.

Pop-art and retro graphics

Poster work that references Mondrian, mid-century comics, or Memphis-style design.

Signage

Wayfinding and safety signage where pure primaries carry conventional meaning.

When to use it

As a teaching tool, when the audience needs to see primary hues clearly distinguished.
For high-energy illustration, where pure colour is the point.
As a palette to subvert — mixing, tinting, and shading these primaries yourself produces countless custom ranges.
In playful, unserious branding aimed at children or referencing classic toys.

Design advice

Never pair all four at equal weight

Pure red, yellow, blue, and green at the same weight create visual chaos. Pick one as dominant and use the others as accents.

Add deep grey or black

Pure primaries benefit from a near-black outline or type colour for structure — it's why comic books use both.

Mix, don't just use

Tinting these primaries with white or mixing them gives you entire custom palettes. The value of the "paint" palette is that it's a starting point.

Watch type on yellow

Black on yellow is one of the most legible pairings on earth; white on yellow fails contrast hard. Use the contrast checker.

Consider cultural meaning

Each primary carries its own associations around the world. Research target markets before building a brand on pure colour.

Colour psychology

Red (#FF0000)

Intense, urgent, and emotional. The strongest attention-grabber in the palette.

Yellow (#FFFF00)

Optimistic and energetic. Reads as sunlight and warning in roughly equal measure.

Blue (#0000FF)

Cool, considered, and trustworthy. The go-to for authority in Western design.

Green (#00FF00)

Fresh and alert. On screen, pure green is unusually bright — often used for "go" states.

White (#FFFFFF)

Space, clarity, and cleanliness. Gives the primaries somewhere to rest.