: What do use instead of complementary colors for colors near "color wheel"'s center? I am quite news to graphic design so I don't know how to define it better. I use to design my presentations

@Candy945

You seem to be asking more about finding colors that go together harmoniously than true complementary colors (colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel, like red and green). Yellow and Orange are called analogous colors in color theory.

Assuming that you are trying to find colors the pair well with your very de-saturated grey and brown tones, you may try pairing them with:


Colors in the same wedge of the color wheel that are much brighter (warm, clay-like grey might go well with a yellow).
Colors with a very different value (the relative darkness/brightness of a color. You can think of it as "what they colors would look like in grayscale."), such as a much darker or lighter version of the same color.
A brighter version of your color's complement (an orangey brown with a brighter blue).


These are just some of the ways you can go, and there are much more nuanced ways of combining colors that you could try to find by researching color theory.
These color wheels may also help:


Color Scheme Designer by Palleton
The Kuler Wheel from Adobe

Vote Up Vote Down

@Hamaas979

The complement of a colour is the colour you would add to it in order to arrive at a neutral. The complement of a neutral colour is another neutral colour. It should be obvious that 50% grey text on a 50% grey background would be difficult to read; legibility would depend on a contrast in brightness rather than colour.

Vote Up Vote Down