Alright, let’s talk about my little color adventure – Salmon vs. Coral! I know, sounds like a boxing match, right?
So, I was working on this design project, a website for a new restaurant. The client wanted something “warm and inviting,” and immediately my brain went to those pinky-orange hues. I started by grabbing a salmon color I had used before, thought it was perfect, pasted it in, and boom… something felt off.
First Move: The Salmon Swatch
- I pulled a salmon color from a previous project, #FA8072 (roughly, I don’t have the exact hex code memorized, haha).
- Slapped it onto the website’s background in my design software.
- Stared. Squinted. Hated it. Okay, maybe not hated, but it felt… flat. Too pink, not enough…oomph.
Then Came Coral: A Deeper Dive
I thought, “Okay, maybe I need something with a bit more depth.” That’s when I started playing with coral. I remembered seeing a coral shade in a magazine that just POPPED.
- I started googling “coral color palettes” – rabbit hole, I know!
- Found a few that I liked, but they were either too bright or too dull. Goldilocks situation!
- I decided to try mixing my own. Opened up the color picker and started nudging the sliders.
The Mixing Process: Trial and Error, Mostly Error
Oh man, this was the messy part. I was trying to get a coral that wasn’t too pink, not too orange, not too red. It was a balancing act.
- I initially went too heavy on the red. Ended up with something that looked like a sunburn. Nope.
- Then, I tried adding more yellow to make it more orange. That just made it look…muddy. Yuck.
- Finally, I started playing with the saturation and brightness. Slightly desaturating it and bringing the brightness up a touch seemed to do the trick.
Eureka! The Perfect Coral (For Now, Anyway)
After a bunch of tweaking, I landed on a coral shade I was pretty happy with. It was vibrant, but not overwhelming. Warm, but not muddy. Here’s the ballpark hex code I ended up with: #FF7F50. It was more orange than the salmon, but still had that pink undertone.
Side-by-Side Comparison: Salmon vs. My Frankenstein Coral
The real test was putting them side-by-side on the website mockup.
- The salmon looked pale and washed out next to the coral.
- The coral added a warmth and vibrancy that the salmon just couldn’t match.
- I even showed it to my cat (don’t judge!), and he seemed to prefer the coral side. Okay, that’s not true, he just wanted attention.
The Result: Coral Wins! (For This Project)
So, yeah, in the end, the coral won out. It just felt more right for this particular project. Salmon is still a great color, but it just wasn’t the right fit this time around.
The takeaway? Don’t be afraid to experiment with colors! Sometimes the shade you think is perfect isn’t, and you need to get your hands dirty and mix things up to find the real winner. And maybe, just maybe, ask your cat for their opinion… or not.
