If you have ever mixed paints or worked with design tools, you know that some colors come from combining other colors. Secondary colors are the three colors you create by mixing two primary colors together. We are talking about orange, green, and purple.
Understanding secondary colors helps you build better color palettes, create visual harmony, and apply color psychology in your projects. Whether you design websites, create art, or work on branding, knowing how these colors work gives you more control over your creative choices.
In this guide, we break down everything you need to know about secondary colors, from how to make them to how top brands use them effectively.
Understanding The Three Secondary Colors
Secondary colors are the result of mixing two primary colors in equal amounts. The three secondary colors are orange, green, and purple. Each one sits between the two primary colors used to create it.
Unlike primary colors, which cannot be made by mixing other colors, secondary colors depend entirely on the primaries you start with. This means the exact shade of your secondary color changes based on which primary colors you use and in what proportions.
Secondary Color Mixer
Mix two primary colors to create secondary colors
Secondary colors give designers more options beyond the basic primary palette. They add depth, variety, and emotional nuance to any color scheme. When you understand how to create and use them, you unlock countless possibilities for your designs.
Read Related Article: Color Theory for Web Designers
How To Create Secondary Colors By Mixing
Creating secondary colors is simple once you understand which primaries to combine. The results depend on your color model and medium, but the basic formulas remain consistent within each system.
Orange
Orange comes from mixing red and yellow. Equal parts of both primaries create a standard orange. If you add more red, you get a warmer, deeper orange that leans toward red-orange. Add more yellow, and you create a brighter, lighter orange with more energy.
Research shows that orange evokes enthusiasm and warmth, making it perfect for call-to-action buttons and highlighting important elements in web design.
Green
Green forms when you blend blue and yellow together. The exact shade changes based on your ratio. More yellow creates a lime or yellow-green, while more blue produces a deeper, cooler green like forest or teal.
Green represents nature, balance, and growth. Studies indicate that green promotes feelings of relaxation and tranquility, which explains why health and wellness brands use it frequently.
Purple
Purple emerges from combining red and blue. Different ratios create various purple shades. More red gives you a warmer purple like magenta or red-violet. More blue creates cooler purples like violet or blue-purple.
Purple carries associations with luxury, creativity, and sophistication. Designers leverage purple to convey premium quality and artistic expression in branding.
Secondary Colors In Different Color Systems
The secondary colors you get depend on which color model you are working with. Each system uses different primaries, which means the secondary colors change accordingly.
RYB Color Model (Traditional Painting)
The RYB model uses red, yellow, and blue as primary colors. This is the system taught in traditional art classes and used for mixing physical paints. In RYB, the secondary colors are orange, green, and purple.
This model works through subtractive color mixing. When you mix paint pigments, each color absorbs certain light wavelengths while reflecting others. Combine red and yellow paint, and you get orange because the mixed pigments absorb blue and green light, reflecting only orange wavelengths.
RGB Color Model (Digital Screens)
For web design and digital work, RGB is your color system. The primaries are red, green, and blue, which are the wavelengths of light that correspond to the three types of color receptors in human eyes.
In RGB, the secondary colors are cyan, magenta, and yellow. These form when you add two primary lights together at full intensity. Red plus green creates yellow, red plus blue makes magenta, and green plus blue produces cyan.
Digital designers rely on the RGB model because every screen emits colored light to display images. When you choose colors for websites or apps, you work in RGB values.
CMYK Color Model (Printing)
The CMYK model is the standard for commercial printing. It uses cyan, magenta, yellow, and black as its primaries. Interestingly, CMYK primaries are actually RGB secondaries, showing how additive and subtractive color systems relate to each other.
In CMYK, mixing the primaries gives you red, green, and blue as secondary colors. Cyan plus magenta creates blue, cyan plus yellow makes green, and magenta plus yellow produces red.
Understanding these different systems helps you avoid color surprises. A vibrant purple on your RGB screen may look duller when printed in CMYK because the print color gamut is smaller than digital displays.
Color Models Compared
How secondary colors differ across RYB, RGB, and CMYK systems
B+Y = Green
R+B = Purple
G+B = Cyan
R+B = Magenta
C+Y = Green
M+Y = Red
Read More: Monochromatic Colors Explained
Where Secondary Colors Live On The Color Wheel
The color wheel is a visual tool that shows how colors relate to each other. Isaac Newton created the first color wheel in 1666 by mapping the color spectrum onto a circle.
Secondary colors sit between the two primary colors that create them. Orange appears between red and yellow, green sits between yellow and blue, and purple rests between blue and red. This positioning makes sense because each secondary is literally a bridge between its two parent primaries.
The color wheel helps you understand complementary colors, which are pairs opposite each other. Each secondary color has a complementary relationship with the primary color not used to create it. Orange complements blue, green complements red, and purple complements yellow.
Tertiary colors also appear on the wheel. These come from mixing a primary with a neighboring secondary color, creating shades like red-orange, yellow-green, or blue-purple. Together, the 12 colors on a full color wheel give designers a complete palette to work with.
When you plan website color schemes, the color wheel guides you toward harmonious combinations that look balanced and professional.
The Color Wheel
Understanding primary, secondary, and complementary relationships
How To Use Secondary Colors In Your Projects
Secondary colors give you flexibility in design while maintaining visual harmony. According to color theory experts, strategic use of secondary colors creates visual interest without overwhelming viewers.
The 60-30-10 Design Rule
This principle helps you balance colors in any design project. Use a neutral or primary color for 60% of your design, a secondary color for 30%, and a bold accent for 10%. This creates hierarchy and prevents color chaos.
For a business website, you might use white or light gray for 60%, a calming blue for 30%, and a vibrant orange for 10% on buttons and calls-to-action. The orange draws attention to important actions without dominating the page.
Creating Visual Hierarchy
Secondary colors guide viewers through your content. Use them to highlight important elements like navigation menus, section headers, or featured content. The contrast between your base colors and secondary accents helps users understand where to focus.
Research demonstrates that up to 90% of snap judgments about products are based on color alone. Strategic secondary color placement influences user behavior and decision-making.
Building Accessible Palettes
Secondary colors can help you meet accessibility standards when used thoughtfully. Ensure proper contrast ratios between text and backgrounds. A dark purple text on a light background often provides better readability than lighter secondary colors.
Tools like WebAIM’s Contrast Checker verify that your color combinations meet WCAG guidelines. For normal text, aim for at least a 4.5:1 contrast ratio. Large text needs 3:1 minimum.
Secondary Colors In Web Design
When planning your UX design process, secondary colors define interactive elements like buttons, links, and form fields. Orange buttons on blue backgrounds create clear visual separation and encourage clicks.
Green is excellent for success messages and confirmation buttons because people associate it with positive outcomes. Purple works well for premium features or creative sections because of its luxury associations.
Explore: Types Of Color Palette
What Each Secondary Color Communicates
Each secondary color carries specific emotional associations that influence how people perceive your brand or design. Color psychology research shows that colors trigger consistent emotional responses across audiences.
Orange
Orange combines red’s energy with yellow’s cheerfulness. It creates feelings of enthusiasm, warmth, and excitement. Fast food brands use orange because studies show it stimulates appetite and creates a sense of affordability.
In web design, orange works perfectly for action buttons because it conveys urgency without the aggressive feel of pure red. Companies like Fanta and Nickelodeon use orange to communicate playfulness and adventure.
Green
Green represents nature, growth, health, and balance. It is the most restful color for the human eye because it requires no adjustment when processing. Color experts note that green promotes tranquility and reduces stress.
Environmental brands, health companies, and financial institutions favor green. Whole Foods uses green to emphasize organic products. TD Bank uses green to suggest financial growth and stability.
Purple
Purple signals luxury, creativity, mystery, and sophistication. Historically, purple dye was expensive and rare, making it accessible only to royalty. This heritage still influences how we perceive purple today.
Tech companies like Twitch use purple to stand out from the blue-dominated tech sector. Beauty brands like Cadbury use purple to convey premium quality. Yahoo uses purple to suggest innovation and creativity.
Understanding these associations helps you choose secondary colors that reinforce your message rather than contradict it.
Secondary Color Psychology
What each color communicates and how top brands use them
Avoiding Secondary Color Design Mistakes
Even experienced designers make mistakes with secondary colors. Knowing what to avoid saves time and creates better results.
Using Too Many Bright Colors
Multiple bright secondary colors competing for attention create visual chaos. Limit yourself to one or two secondary colors as accents. If you need more variety, use tints, tones, and shades of your chosen secondaries instead of adding more pure colors.
Ignoring Accessibility Requirements
Beautiful colors mean nothing if users cannot see them clearly. Always test contrast ratios and avoid relying on color alone to convey important information. Add icons, labels, or patterns alongside color coding.
Approximately 8% of men have some form of color blindness. Red-green combinations are particularly problematic. Test your designs with color blindness simulators to ensure everyone can use your interface.
Applying Wrong Color Models
Designing in RGB for print projects leads to disappointment when colors look duller on paper. If your design needs to work across both digital and print, check CMYK conversion early in your process.
Similarly, don’t specify CMYK values for web projects. Web browsers display RGB, so CMYK values will be converted anyway, often with unexpected results.
Forgetting About Color Context
Colors look different depending on what surrounds them. A medium orange appears brighter against a dark blue background and duller against yellow. Always evaluate your secondary colors in context, not in isolation.
When creating mobile app interfaces, test how your secondary colors appear under different lighting conditions and on various screen types.
Real Brand Examples Using Secondary Colors
Successful brands demonstrate how strategic secondary color use creates memorable identities. These examples show different approaches to incorporating orange, green, and purple.
Spotify’s Vibrant Green
Spotify distinguishes itself with a neon green at maximum saturation. The green suggests growth, creativity, and freshness, perfectly capturing the endless music discovery experience.
Spotify uses green sparingly against dark backgrounds, creating high contrast that draws attention to key features and calls-to-action. The consistent application across platforms makes Spotify instantly recognizable.
FedEx’s Orange And Purple
FedEx uses a unique combination of orange and purple in its logo. This pairing creates a study in contrasts where purple conveys premium service quality while orange adds urgency and speed.
Different FedEx divisions use variations of these colors. The combination is highly recognizable and communicates both reliability and action, perfect for a delivery service.
Twitch’s Playful Purple
Twitch built its identity around purple to stand out in the gaming and streaming space. The purple communicates creativity and fun, making Twitch feel like a community space for gamers and creators rather than just another tech platform.
Purple’s association with imagination and innovation aligns perfectly with Twitch’s mission to support creative content creators. The consistent use across all touchpoints strengthens brand recognition.
Animal Planet’s Natural Green
Animal Planet rebranded with green as its primary color. This choice reinforces the channel’s focus on wildlife, nature, and environmental content. The green creates immediate associations with growth and the natural world.
By selecting a secondary color that directly relates to their content, Animal Planet created a visual shorthand that communicates their mission instantly.
Start Mixing And Creating With Secondary Colors
Secondary colors open up a world of design possibilities beyond the basic primary palette. Orange, green, and purple give you the tools to create depth, establish hierarchy, and evoke specific emotions in your work.
Remember that which secondary colors you create depends on your color model. For digital design and web projects, work in RGB. For traditional painting, use RYB. For print materials, convert to CMYK before sending files to the printer.
The 60-30-10 rule provides a solid foundation for balanced color schemes. Your neutral or primary color dominates at 60%, your secondary color supports at 30%, and your accent color highlights at 10%. This ratio creates visual harmony without overwhelming viewers.
Understanding color psychology helps you choose secondary colors that reinforce your message. Orange communicates energy and enthusiasm, green signals growth and health, and purple conveys luxury and creativity.
Start small if you are new to working with secondary colors. Pick one secondary color as an accent and see how it changes your design. Test different shades and tints to find the perfect balance. Pay attention to how the color makes you and others feel.
Ready to apply professional color theory to your next website? Web Guider Agency creates custom websites with carefully crafted color palettes that strengthen your brand and improve user experience. Contact us to discuss your project.
Frequently Asked Questions About Secondary Colors
What are the 3 secondary colors?
The three secondary colors are orange, green, and purple. These colors form when you mix two primary colors together in equal amounts. Orange comes from red plus yellow, green from blue plus yellow, and purple from red plus blue.
However, the specific secondary colors change depending on which color model you use. In the RGB model used for digital screens, the secondary colors are cyan, magenta, and yellow instead.
How do you make secondary colors?
You make secondary colors by mixing two primary colors in equal proportions. For traditional painting using the RYB model, mix red and yellow to create orange, blue and yellow to make green, and red and blue to produce purple.
For digital design using RGB, adding red and green light creates yellow, red and blue light makes magenta, and green and blue light produces cyan. The exact shade of your secondary color depends on the ratio of primary colors you use and whether you add more of one primary than the other.
What is the difference between primary and secondary colors?
Primary colors cannot be created by mixing other colors together. They are the foundational colors in any color system. Secondary colors are made by mixing two primary colors. In the RYB model for painting, the primaries are red, yellow, and blue, while the secondaries are orange, green, and purple.
In the RGB model for digital screens, the primaries are red, green, and blue, making the secondaries cyan, magenta, and yellow. Primary colors serve as the building blocks, and secondary colors expand the palette by combining those building blocks.
Are secondary colors the same in RGB and RYB?
No, secondary colors differ between RGB and RYB color models. In RYB (traditional painting), mixing red and yellow makes orange, blue and yellow creates green, and red and blue produces purple.
In RGB (digital screens), adding red and green light creates yellow, red and blue light makes magenta, and green and blue light produces cyan. This happens because RGB uses additive color mixing with light, while RYB uses subtractive color mixing with pigments. Web designers always work in RGB because screens display color through emitted light, not reflected pigment.
Why are they called secondary colors?
They are called secondary colors because they are second in the color hierarchy. Primary colors come first as the foundational colors that cannot be mixed from other colors. Secondary colors come second because they result directly from mixing two primary colors.
They are one step removed from the primaries but still represent a fundamental level in color theory. Beyond secondary colors, you have tertiary colors, which are created by mixing a primary color with a neighboring secondary color, adding another level of complexity to the color wheel.
