The color wheel is the most important tool for understanding color contrast. The tradition of modeling colors like this goes all the way back to Isaac Newton, and most of us were first introduced to it in grade school.

Contrasting colors are those that lie directly opposite each other on the wheel—like red and green, orange and blue, or yellow and purple. When contrasting colors are placed next to one another, each appears brighter and more intense. When they are blended, they neutralize each other.

To create color contrast, choose one from the “dark” half of the wheel—the home of reds, blues, and purples. The other color will be from the “light” half, where the yellows, oranges, and greens live.

Now lighten the light color, and make the dark color darker, and you’ve created maximum contrast! The colors play off each other in a way that seems natural—but it’s just the laws of color contrast at work.