Some graphic designers and even experienced artists have a tendency to fall prey to conventional thinking when it comes to picking color combinations, and just stick to the ones that their peers are using. However, they may see that their artwork begins to really come alive if they were to take some calculated risks with their paint palette.

Black and Gray

Conventional wisdom tells us that gray doesn’t mesh too well with black, however, that might be a short-sighted way of thinking.

Black and gray actually do complement each other, and are often found near each other, and find each other on different parts of the gray-scale spectrum.

Orange and Blue

Although orange and blue may be thought of as complementary colors, what they do best is balance each other out. The hues that you utilize will also make a difference- a light orange would go well with a navy blue.

Yellow and Off White

It is commonly thought that yellow and white are equally bright and as therefore, don’t sit well with each other, especially if it’s yellow text on a white background. But if you were to experiment with say, yellow text on an off-white background, you will find that the eyes have an easier time deciphering the text.

Red and Yellow

You may feel that this color combination reminds you of the McDonald’s logo or the colors of the traffic light, but this combination does work well if you want your work to really stand out. If you feel that the color shade is excessively bright, you may want to bring it down a notch or two.

Red, Blue, and Yellow

We know what you are thinking: a schoolkid experimenting with colors during art class. Although we typically don’t associate these colors together in a professional looking piece of art, you can pull off this combo with some tweaks. What you want to focus on is utilizing various shades of the same color in order to give the combo a more pleasant look.