Your Go-To Hex Code Color

by: Chris Coyier

Oct 6 2008
37

A few days ago I mused on Twitter:

When I need to pick a hex code color out of thin air, I always pick #ccc

Turns out, lots of folks have their own favorites! It's little mini conversations like this that make Twitter so much fun.

DigitalSkraps

#ccc

 

reidab

orange

 

leefloyd

#e8e8e8

 

sksmatt

#ccc

 

kristarella

#ddf

 

mwalls13

#336699

 

jmdickinson

#f00

 

vintom

#c40000

 

jamesdoc

any gray

 

jasonhuck

#eee

 

joshellington

#c0c0c0

 

fliawebdesign

#333

 

Schoonology

#2c80ff

 

sametjan

#666

 

nwjsmith

#ccc

 

jamespadolsey

#999

 

Overshee

random letters and numbers

 

Subscribe to The Thread

  1. Benjamin

    My go to hex: #ebebeb

  2. riddle

    I love #ffc and #fcc. When I need to use gray, I pick #ddd

  3. David Sparks

    Yay for twitter!
    speaking of randomly picked colors, when im debugging a site it, at some point if not always, consists of me putting a colored border on an element to see what will happen, i almost always go with 1px solid lime/pink/green/orange/red.
    this debugging scenario is the only time when i use the names of colors like this and usually proves pretty helpful.

  4. Gio

    I try to repeat this experiment, too! Great ;)

  5. sketchpad

    depends on the time of day… but usually: #c0ffee

  6. Paul Davis

    @sketchpad

    If only @c0ffee was actually brown, rather than that pale blue. =P

  7. Travis

    Because I used it umpteen times on a project a couple years back, #4d4d4d is my mock-up colour of choice.

  8. Léo Renaud

    I usually go with #313131. Just like many of you, I used it a lot on a project somewhen and it just stuck. I like the “almost black but still gray” tones.

  9. Paul

    blue or yellow as word – I’m not really comfy with all the hex codes ;)

  10. Alf Brand

    For me, if I need a block of color I go to #eee (Also my fav for zebra striping tables) and for debug outlines it’s always #c00.

  11. Charlie

    I tend to use primary and secondary colours when creating a layout mock up. It makes for an eye watering mess of layout-y goodness.

  12. Schoon

    If these colors say something about us (maybe as designers), I wonder if mine means I’m complex? Or that I think in hex? Or maybe that I just think too much?

    ; )

    (It’s Schoonology) – #2c80ff

  13. Caroline

    From a project I worked on for too long, these greys always pop in my head: #cecece and #9e9e9e!

  14. koew

    #ccc or #0c0

  15. Paul Walker

    If i’m debugging, I’ll pick #f0f (magenta), because I’d almost never use it otherwise.

    Otherwise, #223.

  16. taotsu-pro

    usually #CCC or #FFF coz I often enough work with gray shadows ^-^ i love grey, looks modern somehow… helvetica neue ultralight in #CCC i could die for ^-^

  17. Jen

    it’s #ccc for me too! (and #f0f0f0 or #999 if I need something lighter/darker)

  18. kristin

    How a bout deeppink and lightpink. my faves!

  19. Tyler

    I go with #c0c0c0 or # and any three numbers or letters in a row.

  20. Chocopunk

    I use go-to hex only for debugging, and it’s “red” for it’s visibility and fast writing on my azerty keyboard ;p

  21. mkjones

    Like me, it seems that a LOT of users fall back to the many shades of ‘grey’.

    This could be the reason so many websites out there have #cccccc, #999999, #666666 backgrounds.

  22. Danny

    Love it… I go for any letter-number pair at random just to see, f4f4f4, c8c8c8, f1f1f1… etc

  23. sksmatt

    lovely idea :)

  24. mack

    Pfft, #CFCFCF.

  25. Jaemie

    I don’t know why, but I always use #eee for client projects when I need alternating row colors for divs.

  26. Anrkist

    Let other people poking at your code know you mean business with 031337.

  27. Mel

    Je préfère “red”. C’est court à écrire et facile a voir.

  28. Jack Keller

    I’m a huge fan of #EFEFEF and not sure why to this date.

  29. Valuediz

    And I’m fan of #5a5a5a. I always using it for text.

  30. Mikael

    Mine too is #ccc. It also happens to be one of the primary colors in the profile of the company I work for by pure coincidence.

  31. Amy

    Mine is also #ccc! that or “red” if Im just trying to see a div or something.

  32. Stu Greenham

    I use #3172D3 as its my favourite blue, it always pops up on most of my sites at one point or another :)

    http://www.twitter.com/stugreenham

  33. Meryl

    I use #ececec – it’s the only one I can consistently remember. Else I just type random letters and see what happens :)

  34. Paul

    I use the color of love.

This comment thread is closed. If you have important information to share, you can always contact me.