The most user-friendly interfaces are usually obtained by using the default appearance (font, color, background), but there are cases where you want to change these.
JLabel title = new JLabel("Want a Raise?", JLabel.CENTER); title.setFont(new Font("Serif", Font.BOLD, 48));
JLabel title = new JLabel("Want a Raise?", JLabel.CENTER); title.setForeground(Color.white);
JLabel title = new JLabel("Want a Raise?"); title.setForeground(Color.white); JPanel titlePanel = new JPanel(); titlePanel.setBackground(Color.blue); titlePanel.add(title); // adds to center of panel's default BorderLayout.