Material Design Colors

Color Palette Basics

Material Design offers a comprehensive color palette with shades and tints for each color. These colors are based on Google’s guidelines and come with specific hex codes for consistency. Each color includes multiple tonal variants, from light to dark, allowing designers to create depth and hierarchy.

This palette is designed to be flexible. Designers can mix colors while following recommended pairings to maintain harmony. The system also emphasizes accessibility by including colors that work well in various lighting conditions and screen types.

Primary and Secondary Colors

Primary colors in Material Design represent the main brand colors. They appear most often in the user interface to establish identity. Each primary color has multiple tones, which provide options for backgrounds, highlights, and text.

Secondary colors support and complement the primary ones. They are used to emphasize parts of the UI or indicate actions and states. Like primary colors, they come with different shades to fit various design needs, ensuring visual balance and clarity.

Accent Colors

Accent colors are bright and bold. They are used sparingly to draw attention to key elements, like buttons or links. These colors stand out against primary and secondary colors to signal interaction or important information.

Material Design defines a set of accent colors that enhance the visual interest of the interface without overwhelming users. These colors often appear in small doses but make a strong impact when applied correctly.

Color Roles and Usage

Material Design colors serve specific functional roles beyond decoration. They help communicate information, show state changes, and help users navigate the interface. For instance, red might indicate an error, while green signals success.

The system also defines “on” colors—colors designed to sit on top of primary or secondary colors—ensuring readability. Designers must apply these roles carefully to maintain clarity and usability, aligning with Material Design’s focus on intuitive and accessible interfaces.

Applying Color Themes

Material Design uses a tonal palette with around 13 shades of a main color. This palette helps build color themes that show hierarchy and function. Developers add the Material Components library to their project to start using these colors.

Themes define primary, secondary, and background colors. Each can have light, dark, and container variations. This variety supports different UI states and branding needs. Customizing themes is done in code by setting color values in style or theme files.

Using a consistent color theme across an app keeps the design unified. It also lets users quickly understand what parts of the UI are interactive or important.

Contrast and Accessibility

Good contrast between text and backgrounds is essential. Material Design sets minimum contrast ratios to keep content readable for all users, including those with vision impairments.

Colors must follow these rules:

• Text on backgrounds should meet a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1.
• Large text can have a lower ratio of 3:1.
• Important UI elements need clear visual hierarchy with color differences.

Using too many bright colors or low contrast combinations can confuse users. Designers test palettes using tools to verify accessibility before final implementation.

Using Material Colors in UI Elements

Material Design colors highlight UI parts like buttons, icons, and backgrounds. Primary colors often mark main actions like “Submit” or “Save.” Secondary colors support less prominent elements.

State changes use color variations. For example, a button changes shade when hovered or pressed. Disabled elements use muted or gray tones to show inactivity.

Colors also indicate status or feedback. Red signals errors, green shows success, and yellow warns of caution. This visual language guides users clearly without needing extra text.

Using predefined Material colors and roles ensures apps stay consistent and functional.