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hierarchy-color-and-tone

Use this skill when constructing visual hierarchy through color and tone (value, contrast, saturation) — picking which elements get full-color emphasis and which recede into greys, building a tone ladder, and deciding when color should *be* the hierarchy versus when it should *support* a size/weight hierarchy. Trigger when picking the primary color, building a neutral palette, designing a status badge system, or fixing a UI where color is "too loud" or "too flat." Sub-aspect of the broader `hierarchy` principle; read that first if you haven't already.

plugins/HDeibler/universal-design-principles/plugins/perception-and-hierarchy-principles/skills/hierarchy-color-and-tone/SKILL.md

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# Hierarchy through color and tone

Color is the most attention-grabbing visual dimension and the most accessibility-loaded. Used well, it can establish a hierarchy of importance at a glance. Used poorly, it creates noisy, fatiguing, or inaccessible UIs. This skill is about using color and tone deliberately, as a *third* hierarchy axis on top of size and weight — almost never as the *only* hierarchy signal.

## When this is the decisive sub-aspect

- You're picking the primary color, accent palette, and neutral ramp for a design system.
- You're designing status badges, semantic colors (success/warning/danger), or a chart palette.
- You have a layout where size and weight hierarchy work but the page still feels "flat" or "monochrome."
- You're trying to fix a "noisy" UI — too many colors, all competing.
- You're checking accessibility and need to keep hierarchy intact while satisfying contrast requirements.

## Core ideas