6 ms·

Color Scheme Designer 3

123 points by melvinram 18y ago

dan_sim 18y ago
It's great but it won't solve the problem that programmers can't design. I did the error hundred times to think that nice colors generates nice websites but in fact, colors should be the last detail in designing. Layout should be king. But I'm just a programmer...
- nuclear_eclipse 18y ago
  Yes, but even on simple sites and simple layouts, you still need to be sure that you are using a decent color pallete, especially when you don't have / can't afford to hire a designer for what you're working on.
nuclear_eclipse 18y ago
This is an excellent tool. I especially like the built-in preview systems and the "color-blind" modes, so that I can be sure I'm generating enough contrast for those users. Kudos.
wushupork 18y ago
this is Sofa King awesome for us developer designer hybrids. It's excellent. My only feedback is that maybe the hue/angle popups could be sliders and the color popup could be one of those WSIWYG color pickers. Also, maybe showcase some really nice ones that are preset to give people some ideas. I guess for a future release people could submit their schemes or post them.
callahad 18y ago
If anyone's curious, the title is typeset in Fertigo Pro, an awesome, free typeface from Jos Buivenga's exljbris foundry. You can grab it at http://www.josbuivenga.demon.nl/fertigo.html http://www.josbuivenga.demon.nl/fertigo.html Along with color schemes, keep typography in mind for your next design! Of course, non-standard typefaces are still rather limited on the web, and sIFR isn't the solution. Nonetheless, exceptions can be made for wordmarks and logotypes. With luck, Webkit's expanding market share will finally bring font embedding to the web. Progressive enhancement, anyone? Prediction: Jos Buivenga will become the implicit answer to John Gruber's dilemma of embedded typefaces: "The fonts you’re allowed to embed legally aren't worth using; the fonts that are worth using aren't embeddable."
- nuclear_eclipse 18y ago
  Any way to find those fonts without needing to register somewhere?
- alabut 18y ago
  I've been loving this guy's fonts for about a year or two now, he gets featured regularly in smashingmagazine and it's totally deserved. For something with a bit more personality (which means you can't use it on every project) check out his Diavlo font, it's the one I used in this piece of my portfolio: http://alabut.com/work.html#paybackable http://alabut.com/work.html#paybackable
- unalone 18y ago
  Jos Buivenga, along with John Gruber, is responsible for introducing me to the world of typography. I'm seconding this guy as a terrific resource for free fonts, and as a great read if you want to know where designers get their idea for fonts.
mattmaroon 18y ago
That is probably the awesomest thing I've ever seen.
k0n2ad 18y ago
I was always looking for a good tool that does this! This one is great!
eds 18y ago
I like this a lot. I'm having trouble linking the colors shown in "Scheme Info" with the ones in the main display at right. Could you number the areas somehow? Or show the codes within the lorem ipsum text?
KWD 18y ago
The site preview options were very nice.
jhancock 18y ago
very nice...but leaves me hanging for my purposes. I would pay to have an export of the sample pages in a programmer friendly CSS "starter kit" such as Blueprint or more to my needs, Compass. Forget about micro-charging or recurring monthly bills. Charge $100 or more for 30 days of exports to various well done programmer friendly formats. This is good stuff. I'm waiting for someone to come up with the next step to enable programmers to create all-in-one CSS grid and typography and color palette starter kits.
critic 18y ago
I had no idea that only 85.5% of the population had normal color vision.
- badjoke 18y ago
  I had no idea that anyone was completely black-and-white colorblind. Imagine how abstract the concept of "color" would be if you've never seen it.
joubert 18y ago
Not bad at all. I've been using Kuler: http://kuler.adobe.com/ http://kuler.adobe.com/
sketerpot 18y ago
I've used a lot of color scheme picker web sites. You've just made them all irrelevant. My hat's off to you.

123 points by melvinram 18y ago

It's great but it won't solve the problem that programmers can't design. I did the error hundred times to think that nice colors generates nice websites but in fact, colors should be the last detail in designing. Layout should be king. But I'm just a programmer...

nuclear_eclipse 18y ago
Yes, but even on simple sites and simple layouts, you still need to be sure that you are using a decent color pallete, especially when you don't have / can't afford to hire a designer for what you're working on.

nuclear_eclipse 18y ago

This is an excellent tool. I especially like the built-in preview systems and the "color-blind" modes, so that I can be sure I'm generating enough contrast for those users. Kudos.

wushupork 18y ago

this is Sofa King awesome for us developer designer hybrids. It's excellent. My only feedback is that maybe the hue/angle popups could be sliders and the color popup could be one of those WSIWYG color pickers. Also, maybe showcase some really nice ones that are preset to give people some ideas. I guess for a future release people could submit their schemes or post them.

callahad 18y ago

If anyone's curious, the title is typeset in Fertigo Pro, an awesome, free typeface from Jos Buivenga's exljbris foundry. You can grab it at http://www.josbuivenga.demon.nl/fertigo.html http://www.josbuivenga.demon.nl/fertigo.html Along with color schemes, keep typography in mind for your next design! Of course, non-standard typefaces are still rather limited on the web, and sIFR isn't the solution. Nonetheless, exceptions can be made for wordmarks and logotypes. With luck, Webkit's expanding market share will finally bring font embedding to the web. Progressive enhancement, anyone? Prediction: Jos Buivenga will become the implicit answer to John Gruber's dilemma of embedded typefaces: "The fonts you’re allowed to embed legally aren't worth using; the fonts that are worth using aren't embeddable."

nuclear_eclipse 18y ago
Any way to find those fonts without needing to register somewhere?
alabut 18y ago
I've been loving this guy's fonts for about a year or two now, he gets featured regularly in smashingmagazine and it's totally deserved. For something with a bit more personality (which means you can't use it on every project) check out his Diavlo font, it's the one I used in this piece of my portfolio: http://alabut.com/work.html#paybackable http://alabut.com/work.html#paybackable
unalone 18y ago
Jos Buivenga, along with John Gruber, is responsible for introducing me to the world of typography. I'm seconding this guy as a terrific resource for free fonts, and as a great read if you want to know where designers get their idea for fonts.

mattmaroon 18y ago

That is probably the awesomest thing I've ever seen.

k0n2ad 18y ago

I was always looking for a good tool that does this! This one is great!

eds 18y ago

I like this a lot. I'm having trouble linking the colors shown in "Scheme Info" with the ones in the main display at right. Could you number the areas somehow? Or show the codes within the lorem ipsum text?

KWD 18y ago

The site preview options were very nice.

jhancock 18y ago

very nice...but leaves me hanging for my purposes. I would pay to have an export of the sample pages in a programmer friendly CSS "starter kit" such as Blueprint or more to my needs, Compass. Forget about micro-charging or recurring monthly bills. Charge $100 or more for 30 days of exports to various well done programmer friendly formats. This is good stuff. I'm waiting for someone to come up with the next step to enable programmers to create all-in-one CSS grid and typography and color palette starter kits.

critic 18y ago

I had no idea that only 85.5% of the population had normal color vision.

badjoke 18y ago
I had no idea that anyone was completely black-and-white colorblind. Imagine how abstract the concept of "color" would be if you've never seen it.

joubert 18y ago

Not bad at all. I've been using Kuler: http://kuler.adobe.com/ http://kuler.adobe.com/

sketerpot 18y ago

I've used a lot of color scheme picker web sites. You've just made them all irrelevant. My hat's off to you.