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Unexpected Palettes

Create a colour palette inspired by an unexpected source, like an object, place, or moment. Use this palette in a new design to explore how colour can be drawn from everyday surroundings.

You could build a personal archive of colours by collecting photos, materials or swatches. Use this as a research tool to develop a visual vocabulary that you can draw from for your future design work.

Recollection vs Reality

Test how accurately you remember colour. Try to recreate a specific colour from memory, try a well-known brand, food or drink packaging or something natural, then compare it to the original. Test someone else with the same prompt. Are both your results the same?

How does your perception and memory influence your design choices?

Noticing Your Environment

Choose a single colour and document it in your surroundings through photography or drawing. Notice how it appears across architecture, nature, and everyday objects. Try creating a series, a book, or a visual study using what you find.

Select an image and extract a colour palette from it. Use these colours in a new design, exploring how they can be reinterpreted beyond their original context.

Designing with Limits

Limit yourself to a maximum of three colours and create a design outcome.
Focus on how limitations can strengthen your communication, hierarchy, and
visual impact.

Use the same set of colours to create multiple designs, changing only the proportion of each colour. Observe how shifting the balance can completely alter the feeling of your work.

Colour

Mood and Environment

Explore how colour changes in different lighting conditions and contexts. Consider how colour can influence mood, atmosphere, and perception depending on where and how it is experienced.