Brand, Web & Presence

How do I pick brand colors and a font that don't look dated in two years and don't fight my product UI?

A starting point

Choose a small, boring-on-purpose palette: one primary, one accent, plus neutrals, and a font family that has a clean UI weight so your marketing site and product don't feel like two companies. Trend-chasing (heavy gradients, ultra-thin display fonts) ages fastest, so bias toward legible and calm. Test the palette for accessibility contrast early, because low-contrast text quietly signals sloppiness.

Go deeper

Hand-picked from around the web, each with a note on why it earns your time.

3 resources 3 link-checked Read Use

Read

📄 Article
✓ Link checked Free Beginner

Why we picked it Most guides talk about picking a palette OR a font. This one treats color and type as one system and, crucially, walks through making that system hold up across both your marketing site and your product UI, which is exactly where dated or clashing choices show up. It is strategy-first (color and type follow from positioning), so you end up with picks you can defend in two years instead of ones you chase off a trend list.

Startup Branding Guide: Visual Identity (Color System and Typography)

From Metabrand by Metabrand

  • Start from brand personality and positioning, not a mood board: a palette and typeface chosen to express one idea age far better than ones picked because they looked nice this year.
  • Build the palette with depth (a primary, neutrals for surfaces and text, one accent, plus tints and shades) so it can carry a real product UI, not just a hero image.
  • Set a small type system with clear hierarchy rules that work in both marketing and app screens, so your headline font does not fight your interface font.
Open metabrand.digital →

Use

🛠️ Tool
✓ Link checked Free Beginner

Why we picked it The safest place to pick fonts you can actually ship: everything is free, open source, and licensed for commercial use (logos, apps, print, sites), so you are never one invoice away from a licensing problem. The families here are well made and widely rendered, which means your type looks the same in your product UI as it does on your landing page. Filter by category and weight, preview your own copy, and lean on time-tested workhorses (Inter, Source Sans, Roboto, Libre Franklin) that will not look dated fast.

Google Fonts

From Google Fonts by Google

  • Every font is free and open source (mostly SIL Open Font License), so it is safe to use commercially in your product, logo, and marketing without hunting down a license.
  • Preview your real text at real weights before committing, and check that both a heading and a body font exist in the family so your marketing and UI stay consistent.
  • Pick a couple of durable, high-legibility families over trendy display fonts: they render reliably across browsers and devices, which matters most inside a product.
Open fonts.google.com →
🛠️ Tool
✓ Link checked Free Beginner

Why we picked it A pretty palette that no one can read reads as careless, and this is the fastest way to catch that before it ships. Paste a foreground and background hex, and it tells you instantly whether the pair passes WCAG AA and AAA for text and UI elements, so your brand colors survive contact with real screens and real eyes. Run your buttons, links, and body text through it, and fix the near-misses that would otherwise make your product feel low-effort.

WebAIM Contrast Checker

From WebAIM by WebAIM

  • Aim for at least 4.5:1 contrast for body text and 3:1 for large text and UI components (borders, icons); anything below reads as hard to use.
  • Your prettiest brand color is often your least legible: test it as button text and link color, not just as a swatch, and darken or pair it as needed.
  • Use the pass or fail readout to keep a color while adjusting only its shade, so you stay on brand and stay readable at the same time.
Open webaim.org →

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