How to Create a Website Color Scheme from the Colors in Your Logo

A logo can be a useful starting point when choosing colors for a website. But applying every logo color directly to page backgrounds, paragraphs, and buttons does not necessarily produce a clear interface. This guide uses a fictional craft-goods shop with a two-color logo to show how to extract a starting palette and adapt it for practical roles on a web page.

Identify the base color and accent color in the logo

Begin by checking the colors in the original logo artwork. If you have an SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics, an image format built from shape data) or another editable source, use its specified color values. If only an image is available, sample an area of solid logo color with a color picker, avoiding the background and softened edge pixels. A color specified for print may also need a separate web color value, so check the brand’s digital color guidance when available.

For a two-color logo, you do not have to use both colors in equal amounts. Treat the color used for the name or main symbol as a candidate base color, and the other as an accent. With a logo containing three or more colors, begin by selecting one or two principal colors rather than giving every color a large background area. Separate the logo’s original appearance from the roles its colors will play in the website interface.

Next, add a dark color for comfortable reading and a light color for broad page surfaces. Those supporting colors do not have to appear in the original logo. Keeping recognizable brand colors distinct from practical text and background colors makes the purpose of each choice clearer.

Build a palette from a teal and coral logo

Imagine a fictional handmade-goods store with deep teal ■#1F5C73 for the name in its logo and coral ■#F18B62 for a small symbol. HEX codes are hexadecimal notations used to specify colors. Choose warm off-white ■#FDFAF6 as the page background. The logo’s teal wordmark has a text contrast ratio of about 7.11:1 against that background.

For regular descriptions and prices, use dark blue-gray ■#263642. Against off-white ■#FDFAF6, it provides about 11.95:1 contrast. Reserve logo teal ■#1F5C73 for section headings, navigation, and links, rather than forcing it onto every paragraph. Underline links within body copy so they are not identified by color alone.

For cards explaining product features, introduce pale teal ■#E8F3F3. Dark blue-gray ■#263642 lettering contrasts about 10.98:1 against this surface. A lighter color related to the logo’s teal creates a visual connection without making the entire background intense. Because the pale card and off-white page are similar in brightness, also use spacing and headings to separate sections.

For the primary ‘Buy this item’ button, use teal ■#1F5C73 as the fill with white ■#FFFFFF lettering for about 7.40:1 contrast. In comparison, white ■#FFFFFF lettering on the original coral ■#F18B62 gives only about 2.44:1, which is insufficient for ordinary text. A color that works in a logo is not automatically a suitable background for button labels.

If you want a coral-related color for text or a secondary button outline, introduce a darker reddish-brown ■#A64C30 from the same color family. It gives about 5.46:1 text contrast against off-white ■#FDFAF6. A secondary ‘View delivery details’ button could use that reddish-brown for its label and border on a light surface, while the original coral remains unchanged in the logo.

Check the logo’s visibility and how the interface works

Before publishing, review the logo against its actual background at the sizes where visitors will see it. In this example, coral ■#F18B62 contrasts only about 2.34:1 with off-white ■#FDFAF6, so check that a small symbol remains recognizable. If needed, consider an approved alternate logo or background specified by the brand guidelines rather than assuming the original artwork can be recolored freely.

Under WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) 2.2 Level AA, an accessibility conformance level, regular text normally requires at least 4.5:1 contrast with its background, while qualifying large text needs at least 3:1. Text that forms part of a logo or brand name is exempt from this text-contrast requirement, but ordinary headings and button labels are not covered by that exception. Visual boundaries needed to operate interface components may also require 3:1 contrast against adjacent colors.

On mobile devices, logos may appear smaller and product photographs may sit closer to buttons. Check the logo, prices, body text, button labels, and selected states separately. The ratios in this article are calculated for specified opaque solid-color pairs; they do not directly apply to translucent overlays or photographs.

HueRoll lets you enter HEX codes, explore shades and palette suggestions, and compare the selected color with white or black. It does not automatically calculate contrast between arbitrary two-color pairs or determine Level AA compliance. Use colors taken from the logo as a starting point, then validate each combination according to its role on the finished page.