20 Graphic Design Hacks You Need To Know

Summary

This video script offers 20 design hacks to elevate amateur designs to a professional level, covering typography, layout, spacing, and color. It addresses common beginner mistakes and provides solutions like using a single versatile typeface, adhering to a typographical system, and setting appropriate line heights and kerning. The script also emphasizes the importance of using a 12-column grid for layouts, responsive design, and choosing harmonious colors. These hacks aim to streamline the design process, allowing creators to focus on high-level design work.

Takeaways

• 🔧 Amateur designs often use conflicting typefaces and lack a typographical system, while professional designs choose one versatile typeface and use size, weight, and spacing for contrast.
• 📐 Professional designs utilize a typographical scale system like the minor third, major second, or four pixel system for consistent sizing across various elements.
• 📚 Beginners should limit text width for better readability, with a recommended max width between 600 and 800 pixels depending on the text type.
• 📏 Adjusting line height is crucial for better text readability; larger headings should have a lower line height, while paragraphs should have a higher line height.
• 🌼 The 'bloom technique' for kerning adjusts the spacing between letters based on size, with headings closer together and smaller text spaced further apart.
• 📝 Beginners often misuse weights, but a simple rule is to make large text bold and small text thin to enhance visual weight and contrast.
• 🎨 Avoid designing on a free-form canvas; instead, use a consistent layout grid with an even number of columns, preferably 12 for maximum flexibility.
• 📏 Column widths and gutters should be divisible by four or eight pixels for easy scaling and design consistency.
• 📊 Responsive design is essential; adjust the number of columns based on device breakpoints to ensure the layout adapts smoothly from desktop to mobile.
• 📐 Consistent section padding, often set to the gutter width, helps in maintaining a sleek, grid-like pattern across the website.
• 🌈 Choosing colors for design involves softening pure colors by adjusting saturation or lightness, and using harmonious color systems like monochromatic or analogous instead of harsh complementary contrasts.
• ⚪️ On colors, or text colors, should be carefully chosen based on the background color's lightness, with adjustments to saturation and lightness to ensure readability and professionalism.

Q & A

What is the main purpose of the video?

The main purpose of the video is to teach viewers how to enhance their designs to look professional by covering 20 design hacks related to typography, layout, spacing, and color.

How many design hacks does the video cover, and what are the four main categories they are divided into?

The video covers 20 design hacks, which are divided into four main categories: typography, layout, spacing, and color.

What is the first typography mistake discussed in the video, and how can it be corrected?

The first typography mistake discussed is the use of conflicting typefaces. It can be corrected by choosing one versatile typeface and using size, weight, or spacing to create contrast instead.

What is a typographical system, and why is it important for beginners?

A typographical system is a mathematical rule for selecting type sizes that ensures consistency and ease of scaling within a design. It is important for beginners because it helps avoid random size choices and makes it easier to create new sections without starting from scratch each time.

What is the recommended line width for readability in design?

The recommended line width for readability is between 600 and 800 pixels, depending on the type of text being used, with headings closer to 800 pixels and paragraphs closer to 600 pixels.

Why is it a mistake to use 'Auto line height' in design, and how can it be improved?

Using 'Auto line height' can make text look jumbled, with headings too far apart and paragraphs too close together. It can be improved by manually decreasing the line height as the text size increases, typically setting paragraphs between 125 to 150% of the font size and largest headings around 80 to 90%.

What is the 'bloom technique' for kerning, and how does it work?

The 'bloom technique' is a method for adjusting the spacing between letters (kerning) based on the size of the text. It works by having smaller text 'open up' more, meaning more spacing, and larger text be closer together, resulting in better readability and visual appeal.

What is the recommended approach to using weights in typography for beginners?

For beginners, the recommended approach is to make large text bold and small text thin. This helps headings grab more attention and adds visual weight to the design, enhancing contrast and readability.

Why should beginners avoid designing on a free-form canvas, and what is the suggested fix?

Designing on a free-form canvas can lead to inconsistent spacing and a disjointed look across a website. The suggested fix is to use a layout grid with a set number of columns to maintain consistency.

What is the recommended number of columns for a layout grid, and why?

The recommended number of columns is 12 because it is highly divisible, allowing for easy division of the design into halves, thirds, fourths, and sixths, which is ideal for maintaining consistency and flexibility in design.

What are some common mistakes made by beginners when setting gutter widths, and how can they be corrected?

Common mistakes include having no gutters at all or setting gutters to the same size as the columns. They can be corrected by setting gutter widths to 50% or less of the column width, using numbers divisible by four or eight pixels for consistency and a balanced look.

How can beginners ensure their designs are responsive?

Beginners can ensure their designs are responsive by setting breakpoints for laptop, tablet, and phone sizes and adjusting the number of columns based on these breakpoints, allowing for a reshuffle of the design rather than a complete remake for different devices.

What is the recommended approach to setting section padding for consistency in layout?

The recommended approach is to set section padding to the same value as the gutter width, which creates a sleek look as everything fits together in a grid pattern. If more visual separation is desired, the padding can be increased while following the same rules used for columns and gutters.

What is the common mistake made by beginners regarding spacing between items in a section, and how can it be fixed?

The common mistake is using linear spacing, which is the same amount of space between every item. It can be fixed by using a height equal to or greater than the gutter width between containers and half of that width for components within the same container.

How can beginners create a visual hierarchy in their sections?

Beginners can create a visual hierarchy by using size and position to draw the eyes towards primary elements in the design. Important elements should take up more visual weight, and the general rule is that elements you want to notice first should be larger or more prominent.

What is the issue with treating dynamic components as static when it comes to spacing, and how can it be resolved?

Treating dynamic components as static can lead to poor clipping or wrapping because they have fixed widths. The issue can be resolved by setting static spacing around elements in a dynamic area, using specific pixel values for the spacing between objects.

How can beginners handle spacing in static areas with dynamic content?

In static areas with dynamic content, beginners can use dynamic spacing, which fills the space depending on the number of items in the container. This can be achieved by using auto layout options in design tools like Figma to update spacing based on the number of items.

What is the common mistake made by beginners when choosing colors, and how can it be avoided?

The common mistake is choosing pure colors (e.g., pure white, pure black, pure red) which can be visually jarring. It can be avoided by 'knocking back' colors, softening them by adjusting saturation or lightness towards the center, making them easier on the eye and more harmonious.

Why should beginners avoid designing their color system around complementary colors?

Complementary colors, while they can work, are the hardest to match and can overwhelm the eye if not used sparingly. Beginners should instead use monochromatic or analogous color systems, which are less harsh and more likely to produce harmonious results.

What is a simple hack for choosing accent colors in a design?

A simple hack for choosing accent colors is to take the main color and adjust the hue while keeping the same lightness and saturation values. This can create a cohesive color system that works well together.

How can beginners ensure their on colors are professional and not cheap-looking?

Beginners can ensure their on colors are professional by following the Material Design three hack, which involves keeping the hue but changing the saturation and lightness depending on the background's lightness. For light backgrounds, increase saturation and remove lightness; for dark backgrounds, add lightness and decrease saturation.

Outlines

00:00

🎨 Design Professionalism and Typographic Hacks

This paragraph introduces the video's aim to differentiate between amateur and professional design and to provide 20 quick design hacks to achieve a professional look. It covers the importance of typography, layout, spacing, and color, and how to avoid common beginner mistakes in these areas. The speaker uses Figma to demonstrate these hacks, starting with six typography tips, such as avoiding conflicting typefaces and establishing a typographical system for consistent sizing and weight.

05:01

📐 Layout Consistency and Responsive Design Techniques

The second paragraph delves into layout hacks, emphasizing the importance of consistency and the pitfalls of free-form canvas design. It suggests using a 12-column grid for maximum divisibility and flexibility, choosing divisible numbers for column widths and gutters, and setting breakpoints for responsive design. The speaker also addresses the common mistake of designing unresponsive layouts and the need for consistent section padding to create a sleek, grid-based design.

10:01

🔍 Enhancing Readability with Spacing and Hierarchy

The focus of this paragraph is on spacing hacks to improve content readability within sections. It discusses the drawbacks of linear spacing and the benefits of using gutter width as a reference for spacing between containers and components. The paragraph also touches on creating hierarchy in layouts to guide the viewer's attention, the importance of treating dynamic components with static spacing rules, and the challenge of handling static areas with dynamic content.

15:01

🖌️ Color Selection Strategies for Visual Appeal

In the fourth paragraph, the speaker shares color hacks to overcome common mistakes in color selection. It advises against using pure colors and instead suggests softening them by adjusting saturation or lightness. The paragraph also corrects the misconception about complementary colors and recommends using monochromatic or analogous color systems for better harmony. Additionally, it introduces a method for quickly creating a color system by varying the hue of the main color and discusses the importance of choosing the right on-colors for text to ensure a professional appearance.

Keywords

💡Typography

Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible and appealing. In the video, it is a central theme as the speaker discusses common mistakes beginners make with typography, such as using conflicting typefaces and not using a typographical system, and provides solutions like choosing a versatile typeface and following a typographic scale for consistency.

💡Contrast

Contrast in design refers to the difference in lightness and darkness or color that makes an element stand out. The video emphasizes the importance of creating contrast through size, weight, or spacing rather than using multiple typefaces. It's used to draw attention to key elements and improve the visual hierarchy of a design.

💡Layout

Layout is the arrangement of visual elements on a page or screen. The script discusses layout hacks to correct common beginner mistakes, such as designing on a free-form canvas, using an odd number of columns, and not setting up a consistent intersection padding. The video advocates for a grid system and responsive design to maintain consistency and adaptability across different devices.

💡Spacing

Spacing in design is the amount of space between elements. The video identifies linear spacing as a common mistake and suggests using gutter widths and dynamic spacing to create a more readable and visually appealing design. It also addresses the importance of spacing in dynamic components and static areas to ensure consistency and flexibility.

💡Color

Color is a fundamental aspect of design that can evoke emotions and set the tone. The script provides color hacks to avoid using pure colors and instead suggests softening them or using monochromatic or analogous color systems for better harmony. It also discusses choosing accent colors and on-colors to enhance the overall design.

💡Responsive Design

Responsive design is an approach to web design that makes web pages render well on different devices and window or screen sizes. The video mentions setting breakpoints for different devices and adjusting the number of columns accordingly to ensure that the design is not only functional but also aesthetically pleasing on all platforms.

💡Visual Hierarchy

Visual hierarchy is the arrangement of elements in a design to guide the viewer's eye through the content in a logical order. The video talks about using size and position to create a hierarchy, emphasizing the importance of drawing the viewer's attention to primary elements first, which contributes to a more effective communication of the design's message.

💡Kerning

Kerning is the adjustment of space between characters in a proportional font. The script points out that linear kerning, where every font size has the same spacing, is a mistake that can make text look illegible. Instead, it suggests the 'bloom technique' where smaller text opens up more, creating better readability and visual appeal.

💡Line Height

Line height, also known as leading, is the vertical space between lines of type. The video explains that using 'Auto line height' can make text look jumbled, and instead recommends decreasing line height as text size increases to create visual separation and improve readability.

💡Gutters

Gutters in design refer to the space between columns or elements, serving to separate and organize content. The script advises against having no gutters or setting gutters to the same size as the columns, suggesting instead to set gutter widths to 50% or less of the column width for a balanced and less spread-out design.

💡On-Colors

On-colors are the colors that sit on top of the background in a design, typically text or icons. The video emphasizes the importance of choosing the right on-colors to ensure that the design does not look cheap or unprofessional, suggesting the use of the material design three hack to adjust lightness and saturation based on the background's lightness.

Highlights

Difference between amateur and professional design can be identified by contrast, organization, and overall aesthetics.

20 design hacks are introduced to achieve a professional look in less than a minute each.

Typography, layout, spacing, and color are the four main categories covered by the design hacks.

Avoid conflicting typefaces; instead, use one versatile typeface for better contrast and organization.

Implementing a typographical system like the 4-pixel scale ensures consistency in design sizing.

Limit text width for better readability, with a recommended max width between 600 to 800 pixels.

Adjust line height to improve text readability and visual separation.

Linear kerning can make text illegible; use the 'bloom technique' for better letter spacing.

Use bold for large text and thin for small text to enhance visual weight and contrast.

Designing on a grid with consistent columns avoids common beginner mistakes in layout consistency.

Using 12 columns is recommended due to its divisibility, allowing for flexible design adjustments.

Setting gutter widths to 50% or less of column width prevents designs from looking too spread out.

Responsive design involves adjusting column numbers based on device breakpoints for a seamless layout.

Consistent section padding using the same values as gutters creates a sleek, grid-like pattern.

Avoid linear spacing; instead, use gutter width or half for spacing between design elements.

Creating hierarchy in design sections by using size and position to emphasize primary elements.

For dynamic components, use static spacing around them to maintain a consistent look.

In static areas with variable content, use dynamic spacing to adjust based on the number of items.

Avoid using pure colors; instead, soften them by adjusting saturation or lightness for better harmony.

Complimentary colors are not always the best choice; consider monochromatic or analogous color systems.

Choosing accent colors can be simplified by adjusting the hue of the main color while keeping lightness and saturation constant.

For on-colors, adjust saturation and lightness based on the background to ensure readability and professionalism.

Transcripts

let me ask you a question what is the

difference between an amateur design and

a professional one if you put the two

side by side you could probably tell

which one was bad and which one was good

but why is the Pro Design good and more

importantly how can you create that

professional look for your designs well

in this video I'm going to show you 20

design hacks that take less than a

minute each and will make your design

stand out as truly professional these

hacks cover everything from typography

how to create better layouts how to

space elements and how to pick colors

super easily so once you learn these you

don't have to waste the mental energy

trying to Tinker around get your designs

to look good you can finally focus on

the big picture stuff and do the kind of

work that senior designers do so here we

are in figma I've got the 20 design

hacks laid out right here and these 20

hacks are going to correct some of the

most common beginner mistakes that I see

all the time now I've broken this down

into four categories typography layout

spacing and color and I've designed an

example section for each of these four

categories so you can visually see the

difference these hacks will make in your

designs so we're going to start off with

six typography mistakes that beginners

make and hacks you can use to correct

them and we're going to be working on

this example section so let's get

started the first and most common

mistake I see from beginners is using

conflicting type faces this usually

happens because they don't know how to

create contrast using size weight or

spacing so they think a bunch of

different type faces will give them the

contrast they want but 99% of the time

this just makes your designs look

amateur and unorganized so The Simple

Solution here is to just choose one

versatile type face there are dozens of

great choices and it's really going to

depend on your project but it's hard to

go wrong with a nice sand serif like

inter circular or in this case I'm going

to be using Guist and instead of using

typ faces to add contrast we're going to

add them in more subtle and professional

ways you see the reason beginners think

their typography lacks contrast is

because they're not using a

typographical system when I first

started designing this is what I do I

just pick sizes at random that I thought

looked right and not only did the

designs look bad but it's hard to make

new sections you know because I had to

start from scratch every time I wanted

to pick a new weight pick a new size

pick a new font anything like that I

just had to start from scratch every

time I was building a new section so now

I use a proven typ of graphical system

like the minor 3D the major 2 or the

four pixel system that I'm showing you

here you can go to types scale.com if

you want to generate scales quickly you

can check out the minor third and the

major 2 but I'll give you a brief

rundown basically instead of picking

sizes at you know random you follow a

mathematical rule that stays the same

all the time this way you know what

sizes correspond to what part of your

design and you can create new sizes

easily you just scale it up or down my

personal favorite and the one I

recommend for beginners is the four

pixel system where you start with a 16

pixel paragraph and you increase the

size by four pixels every step until you

get your biggest

heading another really common beginner

mistake is letting your text take up way

too much width it's hard to read and

honestly after a while it just gets

really frustrating so you want to say

your max with so that it's easy to read

experts like Robin Ren say a good Max

width is between 600 and 800 pixels

depending on the kind of text you're

working with for headings closer to 800

pixels is good for paragraphs and

smaller text sizes you want to lean

closer to that 600

Mark almost every beginner I've seen use

figma is going to leave this Auto line

height on but this is a huge mistake

when you use Auto line height you're

going to make your text look like a

jumbled mess the headings are going to

be too far apart and the paragraphs are

going to be too close together so the

hack here is to decrease the line height

as the text gets bigger generally

paragraphs will be between 125 to 150%

of the font size and your largest

headings will be sitting around 80 to

90% of the font size depending on the

type face but this is going to really

visually separate text to create more

contrast and also make it way easier to

read a big typography mistake a lot of

beginners make is linear kerning if you

don't know kerning is the spacing

between letters it's this little thing

right here so when it's too close or too

far apart your text can look illegible a

lot of newer designers don't even bother

trying to figure this out and they just

keep it linear meaning every font size

has the same caring but this is a

mistake for the same reason you don't

want to have the same line height titles

will look too big and small text will be

harder to read so there's a really

interesting hack to correct this that I

call the bloom technique after flowers

opening up over time basically the

smaller your type gets the more it opens

up so your heading should be closer

together usually around netive 1 to 3%

and your small Tech should be spaced out

more at around positive 1 to 2% and

everything else is sort of in

between the last typography mistake I

see a lot of beginners make is using

weights wrong a lot of beginners don't

know when to use what kind of weight so

usually they just sort of default to

using the regular weight all the time

and try not to think about it too much

but there's a super simple hack you can

use uh most of the time and that's to

make large text bold and small text thin

that's because you want your headings to

get more attention so they're red first

therefore they need to take up more

visual weight this also elevates the

contrast of our design and makes it

easier on the eyes and less confusing

for

visitors next upep I want to show you

six layout hacks that have helped me

tremendously when designing websites so

we're going to fix this example section

that makes six beginner mistakes with

some super simple and effective layout

hacks this is by far the most common

mistake I see new designers making and

that's designing on a free form canvas

when you use a drag and drop tool like

figma or Squarespace you have to be

extra careful to make your designs look

consistent across and within sections

nothing ruins the look of a website

faster than inconsistent spacing luckily

the fix is insanely simple in figma all

you have to do is go over to the layout

grid and select columns you can

literally set this to any number and as

long as you stick to it your designs

will look 10 times better but we're

going to go even deeper the rest of the

section will show you exactly how to

build build great

layouts once begin to start using

columns they make a lot of weird

mistakes the first mistake is using an

odd number of columns it can seem to

make sense there's a lot of stuff that

you're going to want to Center but it

turns out that there's actually a

correct number of columns you almost

always want to have and that's going to

be the most divisible number so you see

I cannot divide or break up this section

very easily into very many divisible

things I'm going to be dealing with a

lot of half numbers and 4.5s and 2.5S

and all that sort of stuff unless I use

12 columns so that's basically the hack

is to use 12 columns the reason is

because it's a very divisible number you

can split your design in half you can

split your design in thirds fourth six

and still have the freedom to Center

something if you want it's the perfect

system so you should almost always use

it for desktop and you can stay away

from the more esoteric Design Systems

like five or nine

columns once you've got your 12 columns

in place how big you supposed to make

them them well I've seen beginners

choose a lot of weird options like 125

95 or 75 pixels or something like that

but in general the more divisible your

number the easier it is to design

complex things within and between

columns so 45 and 100 aren't as

divisible say 48 or 96 pixels so if you

want a super easy hack for setting

column withth just set it to a number

divisible by four or eight pixels I

recommend you getting started with 72

because it's divisible by so many

numbers these four or eight pixel

systems you can see scale you can scale

Your Design up or down and still deal

with nice whole numbers and if you

design around a 75 pixel column you'll

have to split pixels in half for

somebody to take up half the

section while we're on the subject

beginners also make some odd choices

when setting the space between columns

the first mistake I've seen is having no

gutters at all uh very weird but you'd

be surprised people do it all the time

the second mistake I see is setting your

gutters to the exact same size as the

columns this is mistake too because it

just makes your design look too spread

out so how do you actually go about

setting your gutter widths well the

solution is pretty easy you can just set

it to 50% or less of your column so long

as the number is also divisible by four

or eight pixels so for 72 pixels I'd set

my gutters to 36 or 32 pixels but I

might even go as low as 24 if I wanted a

really tight design it's better to think

about gutters like Blank Space columns

and pick a size that gives you all the

blank space you want but not more

another big mistake I see all the time

is building unresponsive designs

beginners usually design for desktop

first and then just squish the design

for tablet or mobile luckily there's a

super easy hacks to fix this all you

have to do is pick break points for

laptop tablet and phone then you change

the number of columns based on these

break points so for a laptop or larger

you have 12 columns then for a tablet

you shrink down to six columns then for

a phone you go with one column this way

you don't need to remake everything you

can just reshuffle it using responsive

design the last mistake I see beginners

making all the time with their layouts

is not setting up a consistent

intersection padding so this may seem

like a small thing but it's you know

actually huge because it's the thing

that visually separates ideas on your

page a super simple hack to set your

section padding is to just set it at

whatever your gutter is set to this

gives your website a Sleek look because

everything fits together in a grid

pattern and if you want to increase this

for more visual separation you certainly

can so long as you follow the same rules

used for your column and gutters like

setting it to something divisible by

four or eight pixels and that you keep

it the same for every

section next up we've got four spacing

hacks that are going to help you with

the content inside of your section so

we're going to be fixing this section

which makes four mistakes with some

simple and Powerful hacks the first and

most common spacing mistake that

beginner designers make is linear

spacing linear spacing is when you have

the same amount of space between every

single item in a section and this makes

your designs harder to read but luckily

there's a super easy fix all you have to

do is use a height equal or greater to

your gutter width between containers so

these are two containers and half of

that width on components inside of the

same container so this superhe heading

and this heading and this paragraph are

items in the same container so our

gutter here is 32 pixels so that's how

much we'll separate our containers by

and half of that would be 16 so that's

what we'll set our intersection spacing

to be a quick side note this doesn't

apply to elements inside of components

like an icon in a button or a menu item

we have separate spacing rules for those

which we'll cover in a

minute just like with the typographical

system your sections need hierarchy as

well but all too often beginners learn a

basic layout and just run it into the

ground so that's where we get this

problem which is linear sizing when each

section in a layout is given equal

importance and visual weight the hack

here is to use size and position to draw

the eyes towards things that are primary

in your design in this case we want to

draw the Eyes First towards the heading

then to the text and finally to our

graphic which supports both but the

general rule is very simple important

things you want to notice first should

take up more visual

[Music]

weight this next mistake focuses on the

space between elements in Dynamic

components things like buttons or rows

in a table that expand to fill the space

a lot in so Huff I see designs that are

clipped or wrapped poorly because

designers treat these as static

components with fixed widths but the fix

is actually insanely simple whenever you

have elements in a dynamic area the

spacing rules around them are static so

you set auto layout to this and you set

a pixel value that is static to the

spacing between objects so when you have

a button with an icon you don't set the

width to an absolute number you set it

to hug the contents and use a specific

pixel value between elements in this

case we're going with 24

pixels but what do you do when the area

is static but the content is liable to

change this most commonly applies to

menus cards or user generated content

the problem is that you can't add a

pixel rule when you don't know how much

space to leave between each item the

hack here is to dynamically fill that

space depending on how many items are in

your container so unlike Dynamic areas

which require static spacing static

areas need Dynamic spacing so in figma

you can use the auto option over here to

dynamically update the spacing based on

the number of

items color is the thing I struggled the

most with as a beginner before I learned

these four super simple color hacks that

help me pick the right colors every

single time so we're going to be working

on this section to fix common color

mistakes with these super useful hacks

one of the most common color mistakes I

see beginners make is always choosing a

Pure Color Pure White pure black pure P

red pure blue all these colors all the

way at the corner of your Color Picker

these colors just really limit you and

they're just visually jarring it's hard

to look at a lot of pure color for a

long time especially colors like pure

red which just dominat so much visual

attention that they strain your eyes

really quickly the easy solution to this

is to just knock a color back basically

it means to soften a color by moving its

saturation or lightness towards the

center so left and right is saturation

up and down is lightness black becomes

off black white becomes offwhite pure

Reds become easier on the eye pure Blues

become more complex and as an added

bonus uh colors work better together

when they have more in common like this

Center space so it's a super simple

trick to make a design look 10 times

more

professional I'm going to share an

embarrassing secret with you I used to

use complimentary colors all the time I

did that because I thought complimentary

meant the the colors worked well

together it wasn't until I read the

color design file by Leslie gettis Brown

a long time ago that I understood the

complimentary colors are actually the

hardest to match now I'm not saying that

they can't work but you shouldn't design

your color system around harsh contrast

like blue and yellow or red and green

unless you use one of those colors very

sparingly a half blue half yellow design

is likely to overwhelm the eye so a

simple way to choose secondary brand

colors is to use monochromatic or

analogous color systems in instead

they're both less harsh than the

complimentary color system and you're

likely to get much better results if you

focus on colors that naturally work well

together as opposed to colors that

naturally oppose one another you should

also play around with the light and

saturation when choosing a secondary

color so a dark red might look better

with a desaturated blue than a bright

blue on this design specifically we're

going to remove the harsh yellow but

keep most of the lightness value leaving

us with this subtle off-white once you

have your main colors worked out it

could seem hard and confusing to choose

accent colors a lot of beginners default

is sort of choosing them at random and

seeing what sticks but the odds you'll

pick the right color combo at random are

zero you need a system for at least

beginning to pick accents that you can

work off of so I'm going to show you a

super simple hack that I learned from

some amazing designers this is a hack

that I use all the time when I need to

create a color system quickly all you

have to do is take your main color and

move the Hue around until you find an

accent that you love like that's how I

created the design spoke color system

where I was trying to go for a candy

colored kind of design they're all the

same lightness and saturation values but

with different Hues I would say this

works about 85% of the time and when it

doesn't it's usually because a purely

monochrome system works

better your design is made up of three

kinds of colors you have your brand

colors your accents and finally your on

colors that sit on top of your design

most beginners do absolutely nothing for

these colors they just use white if it's

a dark background and black if it's a

light background but on colors are

important because they're what the user

actually focuses on you can mess up a

background color but if you mess up the

text that sits on top of that background

Your Design will look cheap and

unprofessional so when picking out on

colors I like to follow the material

design three hack which is to keep the

Hue but change the saturation and

lightness depending on whether the

background is light or dark if it's a

light background I remove lightness and

increase saturation and if it's a dark

background I add lightness and decrease

saturation this creates a more

professional and realistic look even if

the on color is really close to pure

black or Pure

White so I hope you enjoyed this video

if you did YouTube thinks you'll like

this one so you should probably check it

out