Colors from the Kalahari

The Kalahari Desert in SW Africa

The Kalahari Desert located in SouthWest Africa, is home to a cluster of circles only seen from the sky, nicknamed “fairy-circles” because of their undefined origins.

As any seasoned designer has probably figured out, there is no better color scheme than one pulled from nature. I started a project in 2012 when I lived in Barcelona, where I would pull my favorite colors out of photos I took around town or on my travels. Each image would have a dynamic array of colors, always perfectly contrasting, because that is how colors are found in their natural habitat — greens with reds, variants of blues on yellow.

Hex codes from image 1:

(top to bottom) named for those of you using SaSS

$deepgraygreen: #252928;

$slate: #747B73;

$camogreen: #666245;

$earthpurple: #735753;

$salmon: #C5714F;

$rust: #B8623F;

The Kalahari via Google Maps

Derived from the Tswana word Kgala, meaning “the great thirst”, or Kgalagadi, meaning “a waterless place”. -wikipedia

Meerkats in the desert

Hex codes from image 2:

$sky: #026AB1;

$seaweed: #1B1F0E;

$dustyorange: #B36B30;

$palepink: #B36B30;

$clayred: #6E2B10;

$africared: #A03F15;

Hex codes from image 3:

$aqua: #7FE7FF;

$seaweed: #FEE38A;

$dustyorange: #B36B30;

$palepink: #B36B30;

$clayred: #6E2B10;

$africared: #A03F15;