Using color in illustration

Our full color palette has 17 color families with 8 shades in each family—that equals 136 total colors. We use these colors to capture detail and mimic the reality of each illustration's subject matter. Select a color to view the hex, Pantone, and CMYK values.

All the main colors in our illustrations are from our full palette. They've been strategically chosen to both set a mood and ensure enough contrast to be legible on various background colors. Skin tones are the only colors we use in illustrations that are not in our palette.

Every illustration has a primary color and 2 secondary colors associated with it. Generally, one secondary color complements the illustration's primary color and the other is a neutral. This strategy ensures that each illustration has a focus color that stands out on the background color. It's important for each illustration to have visual variety and not blend in too much with the background color.

Each illustration has 6 different pre-determined background colors that ensure good visual contrast. Use the background colors provided for each illustration. If you need customized colors for an illustration, please reach out to the OneExperience (OX) team or sign up for office hours.

In most instances, our illustrations do not change between light and dark mode. But in a few rare cases where the background changes in dark mode, some illustrations do as well.

If you want a new color scheme for a specific illustration, do not re-color anything on your own. To discuss custom coloring, reach out to the OneExperience (OX) team or sign up for office hours.