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Create two palettes for the same original drawing and ask whether both preserve the intended reading order. A recolour can keep every contour unchanged while making the wrong area dominant. Valve describes color-replace stickers as using a mask for recolouring. This exercise uses an original cup-and-steam symbol to review role consistency, rather than prescribe a technical mask workflow.
| Role | Cool-led variant | Warm-led variant |
|---|---|---|
| Cup body | Muted blue | Muted warm tone |
| Steam | Clear supporting contrast | Clear supporting contrast |
| Small mark | Restrained accent | Restrained accent |
Draw the cup and steam yourself. The table describes visual roles, not required colours or an implementation format. Save a neutral reference drawing and keep the outlines and region positions unchanged while comparing the two original palettes.
Decide whether the viewer should first see the cup, the steam or the small mark. For this study, make the cup primary and the steam its identifying support. The accent should add interest without becoming a separate logo.
Describe the roles in words that apply to both palettes. “The blue area wins” cannot serve the warm-led variant, but “the cup remains primary” can. This makes the comparison about coherent design rather than loyalty to one favourite colour.
Look at each variant at the same size. Note the first recognisable element and the next supporting relationship. Do not judge the accent by its attractiveness alone; ask what it does to the surrounding drawing.
The salience and contrast guide provides useful attention questions. If the accent dominates only in the warm-led version, keep the cool-led drawing unchanged while preparing a more restrained warm accent for comparison.
Check the separation between cup and steam and the small space beside the accent. A new hue relationship can make a previously clear region merge with its neighbour or seem detached from the subject. Record the actual boundary rather than concluding that the whole palette failed.
The albedo and lighting explanation helps distinguish an input relationship from a particular rendered impression. Keep the comparison conditions stable while choosing which boundary needs a colour revision.
Place the two variants side by side and reduce the view. Do they still feel like versions of the same cup symbol, or does one become an unrelated bright mark? Keep the neutral reference nearby so that you can identify which relationship disappeared.
Use the sticker appearance overview for broader context and the placement review for a separate surrounding-composition question. Neither replaces this palette test or implies that a design document can recolour an owned sticker.
Write what both variants must preserve: the cup first, a connected steam shape and a modest accent. Then list the differences you accept, such as a calmer cool-led impression and a warmer alternative with slightly stronger contrast. Coherence does not require identical emotional character.
The submission guide addresses later publication. A preview does not modify Steam inventory or create a tradeable variant. Keep a separate next edit for each palette instead of merging every attractive choice into one increasingly crowded drawing.
Sources checked on 3 November 2026. The reference supports design terminology; the exercises concern your own artwork.
What you should know before you begin.
No. Preserve the important relationships while allowing a different overall character.
First keep the drawing fixed and identify the colour boundary or accent that changed the reading order.
Review the complete symbol as well. The interaction between neighbouring regions is the subject of this exercise.
