Okay guys, seriously, why use Leo Colors? Everyone kept talking about it online, saying it solves all your design headaches. Honestly, I thought it was just another color picker thing – flashy, but probably not worth the hassle.
Then Tuesday morning happened. I was trying to pick colors for this client’s new website header. Usually, my process is messy. I open like ten tabs: one for the design tool, another for some color inspiration site, then five more for random HEX code generators I bookmarked ages ago. Total chaos. I’d find a nice blue, type it in… wait, was that #4A89DC or #5A89DC? Crap. Back to the tab. Lose my place. Rinse and repeat. By lunchtime, I’d usually have three different blues copied on sticky notes and a headache.
So I bit the bullet around 11 AM. Went to Leo Colors’ site. No fancy signup, which was nice. Just downloaded it.
First Step: Tossing Old Habits
Opened the app. It looked clean. Saw this big “Create Palette” button. Clicked it. Instead of just showing me random colors, it asked questions like “What’s the main purpose?” and “What vibe are you going for?” Felt weirdly personal, but I typed in “Trustworthy, modern healthcare portal.”
The Experiment Begins
It spat out a base palette. Blues, whites, a subtle gray. Okay, safe. But then it had these suggestions below: “Accessible Contrast Check,” “Light/Dark Mode Switch,” “See how these look on UI elements.” Clicked the contrast checker thing. Highlighted my chosen main blue and the white text. Boom. Big green checkmark saying “Passes WCAG AA & AAA for Normal Text.” Legit never checked that properly before; I just eyeballed it. Already felt like I dodged a future client email complaining about text being unreadable.
Pushing It Further
Next, I thought, let’s break it. Added another darker blue I liked. The app instantly flagged it: “Warning: insufficient contrast with dark gray background.” Little icon popped up suggesting a slightly lighter shade. Tried that. Green checkmark. Okay, Leo, point taken.
The Real Test – Building the Thing
Copied the whole palette right into my main design file. Saved it as my “Project – Health” library. Started applying colors. Header? Main blue. Text? White. Subheadings? Accent blue. Sidebar? Light gray. Then I hit the project’s dark mode switch. This blew my mind. The colors automatically adjusted! My main blue got a bit brighter for the dark background, the grays shifted – it maintained the same trustworthiness but worked in dark mode. Didn’t have to manually fiddle with six different shades. Huge.
The Unexpected Benefit
Finished the mockup way faster than usual. Sent it off. Here’s the kicker: zero feedback about colors. None. Usually, there’s at least a “can we try this shade instead?” Nada. They just approved it. Turns out, not having to fight over tiny hue adjustments saved days of back-and-forth.
Was It Worth It?
Look, I thought it was hype. But actually using it? Game changer. It’s not magic dust. You still need taste. But it stops you from making dumb technical mistakes and saves hours of fiddling. That “aha” moment wasn’t flashy; it was finishing a client project without wanting to throw my monitor out the window. Solid win.
