Overview
Color Pal transforms a short creative brief into a cohesive palette that includes hex values, semantic naming, and suggested usage guidelines. The goal: help founders and developers launch with confident branding in minutes.
Problem
I noticed builders spending hours sampling random colors or relying on templates that rarely matched their product vision. I wanted a tool that could interpret language and return production-ready palettes with accessibility baked in.
Solution
- Three-word prompts capture the vibe of the brand. Example:
calm,minimal,trustworthy. - AI-assisted color logic proposes five shades spanning background, surface, accent, and call-to-action roles.
- Contrast scoring automatically flags combinations that fail WCAG AA so users can iterate quickly.
- Palette exports include CSS variables, Tailwind tokens, and downloadable JSON for design tools.
Technical Approach
- Prompt templates instruct the AI model to produce structured JSON with hex values, labels, and tone descriptions.
- Zod validation ensures the response matches the schema before rendering. If validation fails, the request is retried with a fallback prompt.
- Dynamic gradients preview the palette across UI states (hero, cards, buttons) using adaptive Tailwind themes.
- Performance guardrails cache recent prompts and throttle excessive requests to stay API-friendly.
Key Learnings
- Pairing AI creativity with strict validation keeps the experience both magical and dependable.
- Designers appreciate context—naming swatches with intent (e.g., “Aurora Accent”) makes palettes memorable.
- Accessibility should be automatic; surfacing contrast failures upfront builds trust.
Roadmap
- Shared palette gallery for inspiration and community feedback.
- Import/export support for Figma, Adobe, and Penpot.
- Optional brand copy suggestions to pair tone with color.