Fun ways to use a random color picker
- Art challenge: draw or paint something using only the spun colour.
- Colour scavenger hunt: find five things in the room that match.
- Outfit roulette: build today's outfit around the colour.
- Team colours: assign a colour to each team for sports day.
- Twister-style games: spin a colour and a body part.
- Design prompts: use the colour as the main accent in a logo or poster.
Spin two wheels for a colour palette
Designers often use random constraints to break creative block. Spin twice to get a two-colour combo, or three times for a full palette, then build your design around it. Switch to Elimination mode so you never get the same colour twice in one palette.
Colour combinations to try after a spin
A single random colour is a starting point. Artists turn it into a palette using a few standard schemes, based on where colours sit on the traditional painter's colour wheel.
| Scheme | How to build it | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Complementary | Add the colour directly opposite | Blue with orange |
| Analogous | Add the neighbours on each side | Yellow, orange and red |
| Triadic | Three colours evenly spaced | Red, yellow and blue |
| Monochrome | One colour from light to dark | Pale blue through to navy |
Spin once for the main colour, pick a scheme and you have a palette for a poster, an outfit or a room.
Mixing the spun colour with paint
- Orange: red and yellow.
- Green: yellow and blue.
- Purple: blue and red.
- Pink: red with white.
- Brown: all three primaries, or orange with a little blue.
- Grey: black and white, or two opposite colours mixed.
- Turquoise: blue and green with a touch of white.
- For a lighter tint add white; for a darker shade add a very small amount of black.
Build a bigger colour wheel
Twelve basic colours suit games and young children. For art prompts, paste a longer list: crimson, scarlet, coral, peach, amber, mustard, lemon, lime, olive, emerald, mint, teal, cyan, sky blue, cobalt, navy, lavender, plum, magenta, rose, tan, chocolate, charcoal and cream. You can also type hex codes such as #EA580C as entries if you are choosing colours for a design.
Frequently asked questions
Is this a colour theory wheel?
No. It is a random colour picker: it chooses one colour name from the list. The table on this page shows how to turn that colour into a complementary, analogous or triadic palette.
Can it pick a random hex colour?
The default list uses colour names. You can type any hex codes as entries, one per line, and the wheel will pick from those.
Can I add my own colours?
Yes. Type any colour names you like, one per line, such as "Teal", "Coral" or "Mustard".
Can I change the wheel colours?
Yes. Pick from eight palettes in the Colours section of the settings panel.