toonivaliku

Toonivaliku is the process of selecting and organizing color tones for a design or artwork, and the resulting palette that guides visual decisions. The term derives from Estonian: toon meaning tone or color, valik meaning selection. Toonivalik encompasses hue, saturation, brightness, and the relationships among tones to create harmony, contrast, and legibility across media.

In practice, toonivaliku follows several common palette structures. Monochromatic palettes use variations of a single hue; analogous palettes select neighboring hues on the color wheel; complementary palettes pair colors opposite on the wheel; triadic and tetradic palettes use evenly spaced hues for balance. Beyond these, designers may craft custom palettes to support branding, mood, or accessibility.

Key considerations include readability and contrast, especially for text or interactive elements; cultural associations and symbolism of colors; consistency across platforms; and color management via perceptual color spaces (such as CIELAB) and calibration. Accessibility standards, such as contrast ratios, influence toonivaliku choices to ensure content is usable by people with visual impairments.

Tools and workflows commonly used to develop toonivaliku include color pickers, swatch libraries, and CSS or design tokens that store color variables. The process typically involves defining objectives, selecting a base color, expanding to a full palette, testing for contrast and accessibility, and iterating based on feedback and context.

See also: color theory, color palette, color harmony, WCAG, branding.