What colour goes with black?

Summary/Overview

Black is a bold, powerful colour that works across almost every type of design. It’s timeless and versatile and acts as a strong anchor for both subtle and statement palettes. Whether you’re designing business materials, event invites, or social posts, pairing black with the right colour can elevate your work and help you communicate a clear message. Adobe Express makes it easy to explore colour pairings and quickly apply them to your designs using templates you can customise in minutes.

Black and white for a timeless contrasting colours design.

The combination of black and white is a go-to palette for classic, minimal, and impactful designs. It’s easy to work with and delivers high contrast, which helps with readability and focus. Whether you’re putting together a business card, email signature or sales presentation, black and white keeps things polished and professional. It’s a strong choice for solopreneurs and marketers who need to communicate information clearly and want their visuals to appear sharp and modern.

You can use this palette to great effect in both print and digital content. For example, if you’re building a price list, switch the background to black and use white text for clarity. Or if you’re designing a flyer, reverse the scheme and use a white background with black text and accents for a more traditional layout. Add subtle details like line art or icons to introduce structure and interest. Adobe Express offers black-and-white phone wallpaper templates that are fully editable, along with black poster templates and black card templates. Pick the template you like, then add your own logo, adjust layouts, and test different font styles with ease. This combination doesn’t just look clean; it helps your message stand out with no distractions.

Black and gold for a glamorous, sophisticated look.

Pairing black with gold creates an instantly luxurious aesthetic. It’s bold, refined, and ideal for projects where you want to add a sense of celebration, prestige, or elegance. This colour pairing works particularly well for event invitations, product packaging, grand opening banners, or promotional content for beauty, fashion, or high-end services. It’s a strong option for marketers and creative communicators looking to elevate their brand or campaign visuals.

When using black and gold, think about balance. Too much gold can feel overwhelming, while too little might get lost against the black. Use gold sparingly, as an accent for borders, headings, or icons. You can also layer in subtle gradients or textures to enhance the look without adding clutter. Black and gold also pair well with serif fonts and clean layouts. Whether you're designing a luxury bar menu, a digital ad, or a holiday-themed social post, Adobe Express templates help you experiment quickly with these elements. You can swap fonts, apply gold tones, or use premium assets to get a professional finish without starting from scratch. Create a sleek black, white, and gold wallpaper and explore these gold background ideas.

Editable templates for black-themed content.

Black and pink for an edgy yet elegant style.

Black and pink is a striking colour combination that effortlessly fuses sophistication with a playful edge. This pairing is perfect for anyone looking to create designs that are both bold and elegant, making it a popular choice for everything from beauty branding to music event promotions and eye-catching digital launches.

Whether you want your social media feed to stand out or your marketing materials to exude confidence, black and pink deliver a modern, expressive look without sacrificing approachability.

• Pick your shade of pink. Soft blush tones offer a subtle, refined contrast, while vivid magenta or hot pink injects energy and vibrancy into your design. Browse pink poster and pink card templates for inspiration.
• Use black to anchor your layout. Employ black as the dominant background or in header sections, then bring in pink through buttons, icons, or accent details for a dynamic effect. Explore these black hex codes to find the black that pairs best with your chosen pink.
• Mix textures and fonts. Pair a matte black background with a bold pink headline in a clean sans serif font for a polished, contemporary finish. For businesses, it’s especially important to get the typography design right, so that your colours and fonts work together to represent your brand.
• Test with templates. Explore black and pink themes in Adobe Express templates for everything from social stories to architecture business cards. Easily adjust shades, reposition elements, and experiment until you find the perfect balance of impact and sophistication.

This colour duo is ideal for creatives who want their designs to feel both expressive and refined, ensuring every project leaves a memorable impression. If you’re planning on printing your black and pink designs, learn more about colour modes and consistency when printing.

Black and red for bold and dramatic colour themes.

Black and red is a striking combo that demands attention. It’s high contrast, emotionally charged, and perfect for themes that need impact. Whether you’re promoting a seasonal offer, showcasing a bold brand personality, or designing event graphics, this duo works across both digital and print. It’s especially popular in the fashion, fitness, and entertainment industries, where strong visuals are key. Experiment with this duo by creating personal trainer flyers, stylish fashion moodboards, and music posters.

When using black and red, make sure your layout isn’t too heavy. Red works best as a highlight colour, so use it for headlines, icons, and calls to action, while black provides structure. This pairing works well with geometric shapes and sharp fonts. Adobe Express templates let you try out different layouts and colour proportions quickly, so you can find a setup that feels bold but balanced. Whether you're designing for a client or promoting your own service, black and red help you create high-impact content that’s hard to ignore. Start your designs with these red post templates and red Facebook quotes templates.

Build your own black-themed content with templates from Adobe Express.

Black and grey for subtle and polished styles.

Black and grey is a refined pairing that’s ideal for corporate, professional, and formal design work. It creates depth without feeling flashy, making it a great option for reports, client-facing documents, and brand communications. If you’re a solopreneur or creative communicator handling materials like brochures, proposals, or product guides, this pairing offers a simple way to look sleek and put-together. Browse these grey phone wallpaper templates and design your own modern light grey wallpaper.

Grey comes in a range of tones, from soft silver to deep charcoal, giving you flexibility. Lighter greys work well for backgrounds, spacing, and image overlays, while darker greys can help structure your layout. Black adds sharpness to headers, icons, and calls to action. You can also bring in subtle textures like linen or brushed metal effects to add interest without cluttering the design. Adobe Express templates let you explore black and grey designs that look smart on mobile and desktop. Whether you're building a social post or a branded email, this pairing ensures your content looks thoughtful and professional. Learn more about mobile-first designs and how to develop your marketing brand image.

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Useful things to know.

Is black suitable for fun or personal content?

Yes. Pair black with bright or pastel colours like pink, teal, or yellow to give your content a friendly tone without losing impact. The best example of this is pop art, which uses bold black outlines and graphic contrasts to make the colours and shapes ‘pop’.

Does using black always feel formal?

Not necessarily. Black can feel modern, playful, or even relaxed depending on the colours, fonts, and layouts you combine it with. A good example of black being used to heighten drama and energy in designs is with abstract art styles. Here, you can use black backgrounds or shapes with neon or metallic colours to create exciting and contrasting pieces that are definitely not formal.

Can I use more than one accent colour with black?

Absolutely. Just be careful not to overcrowd your design. Black works well with up to two accent colours if you keep the layout balanced. Explore these black t-shirt design templates to see how to use black with multiple accent colours.

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