My barber in Austin said my color palette was 'safe' and it stung a bit

Honestly, I was just getting a trim last Tuesday when he pointed at my outfit and said, 'Cole, you wear a lot of navy and gray, huh? It's a good safe zone.' Ngl, it hit different because he wasn't even talking about hair. I realized I design the same way, sticking to those two colors in like 70% of my sketches. It made me question if I'm playing it too safe creatively. Has anyone else had a random comment totally shift how you see your own design habits?

2 comments

2 Comments

taylor_mitchell801mo ago

Felt the same when a client called my work "reliable but predictable." I started forcing myself to add one wild color to every project, like a bright orange or a weird green, just to break the muscle memory. It felt wrong at first, but now those little jolts of color are my favorite part.

kaib181mo ago

Try hiding the wild color somewhere only you notice. @taylor_mitchell80 paints a whole wall orange, but I'd put a single weird green tile behind a sink or under a cabinet toe-kick. The client gets their "reliable" look, but you know the secret punch is there. It becomes a private joke with the space itself, and that feels more rebellious than any loud statement.