My professor said my color palettes were 'too safe' and it stung

Zara Kelly · 2026-04-10T11:20:04.513867+00:00

She specifically pointed to a skirt design I made last semester, calling the navy and grey combo 'predictable'. I started pulling swatches from weird places, like old paint chips and food packaging, and it actually helped. Anyone else get a critique that pushed them out of their comfort zone?

piper_burns5mo ago

@kai_park that's the real test right there. Sometimes you gotta fail weird to find your real style.

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paigem456mo ago

Ugh, I have to disagree. Honestly, predictable colors sell for a reason. People like what they know. My cousin had a teacher push her to use crazy combos and her final project looked like a clown threw up, it totally missed the mark.

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kai_park6mo ago

That's a solid way to shake things up. Did the professor give you any other feedback on the new stuff you tried?

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