Farveplan

Farveplan, or color plan, is a strategic document used in design to define and regulate color choices across a project to ensure coherence, legibility, and a consistent identity. In Danish practice, the term emphasizes coordinated palettes that respond to context, materials, and lighting.

A farveplan is applied across architecture, urban design, interior design, product development, branding, and digital interfaces. It translates aesthetic objectives into actionable guidance, specifying color roles, a chosen palette, and usage rules that determine where and how colors should appear on façades, interiors, signage, interfaces, and packaging.

Typical components include a primary color set, secondary and accent colors, neutrals, and environment or site colors; role assignments (for example, which colors dominate façades, which are for wayfinding, and which are reserved for details); accessibility requirements such as contrast ratios; and documentation of color values in systems such as Pantone, RAL, or NCS, alongside digital codes (HEX, RGB, CMYK). Finishes, materials, and lighting conditions are considered because they alter color perception and aging.

Process generally involves briefing, site analysis, palette development, material and finish selection, mockups under representative lighting, stakeholder validation, and formal documentation. Governance may align with municipal guidelines, branding standards, and accessibility laws. While a farveplan provides clear guidance, it is also adaptable: color perception shifts with lighting, context, and culture, so the plan is typically treated as a living document subject to revision.