Colours that go with purple

Chapter 2 · Five plates with purple

Chapter 2 · From the bookHaishoku Sōkan · 1933

From the book

The two Wada combinations that contain the book colours closest to purple, measured in Lab. They have been in use for almost a century: the harmony is already proven.

125

Fawn, Cerulian Blue, Blue Violet

#d7b7ad · #008ea5 · #674696

Light · button 4.9:1Warm and coolIts page →Open →

175

Pinkish Cinnamon, Olive Buff, Blue Violet

#f0ba83 · #cdcd9b · #674696

Light · button 4.8:1Warm and coolIts page →Open →

Chapter 2 · By ruleNamed harmonies

By rule

Three plates built from purple with a rule that can be explained: the opposite, the neighbours or a single hue with an accent. None of them comes from a roll of the dice.

R·01

Complementary

#6b4a8c · #8ba772 · #f5f2fa · #1f2b13

The starting purple and the one opposite it on the wheel, plus a light neutral and a dark version for background and text.

Light · button 6.4:1All coolOpen →

R·02

Analogous

#7578b4 · #6b4a8c · #542854 · #f5f2fa

The starting purple and its two neighbours on the wheel, plus a neutral that lets them breathe.

Light · button 6.4:1All coolOpen →

R·03

Monochrome with accent

#362448 · #6b4a8c · #ede3fa · #88a968

One hue in three lights and a small accent opposite it.

Light · button 6.4:1All coolOpen →

Strip: the colours in equal parts, as in kimono sample books. It is the quickest reading for comparing.

Plate 01 of 05 · Wada combination 125

All five ↑

The plate, as printedHaishoku Sōkan · 1933

Wada combination 125

Fawn#d7b7ad
Cerulian Blue#008ea5
Blue Violet#674696

It contains a colour very close to the starting purple (Blue Violet) and has been in use for almost a century. The original colours are called Fawn · Cerulian Blue · Blue Violet.

3 colours in equal parts, as in the book. It is the inspiration, not the interface. Click one to copy it.

See this combination →

Plate · MixesThree parts to one

The three colours, mixed two by two

3 parts fawn1 part cerulian blue
3 parts cerulian blue1 part blue violet
3 parts blue violet1 part fawn
3 parts fawn1 part blue violet
3 parts cerulian blue1 part fawn
3 parts blue violet1 part cerulian blue

This is where the in-betweens the plate doesn’t carry come from: borders, card backgrounds, disabled states. The mix is done in OKLab, which is closer to mixing paint than to averaging numbers. Click the result to copy it.

On screen · the split60 · 30 · 10

Adapted for screen

The same hue as the plate with the lightness moved to where an interface needs it: the background rests, the surface keeps the colour from the book and the accent earns the button. Each role says which colour it comes from and what was done to it. Click any to copy.

60% BackgroundWhere the eye rests: most of the screen. The plate's #d7b7ad, lightened.
30% SurfaceCards, bands, headers. This is where the book's colour lives. From the plate, as is (#d7b7ad).
10% AccentOnly what gets clicked. The plate's #008ea5, darkened.

The roles the plate doesn’t carry

Measured, before and after

On the plate, the best pair of colours reads at 3.8:1: only good for large text.Falls short
On screen, the text #27222c on the background #fff2ef gives 14.2:1: AAA, reads with room to spare. APCA gives Lc 96: good for small text, the kind you read a paragraph of.Passes
The accent #0c7588 stands 4.9:1 from the background (a button needs 3:1) and as a link reaches 4.7:1 (a word needs 4.5:1).Passes

Out in the worldAdapted

This is the plate with a whole screen to fill.

This paragraph is here so you can see real text on a real background, which is where half of the pretty palettes fall over. If it's hard to read, now you know. And this is a link.

A card

Secondary surfaces use the support colour. If it doesn't separate from the background, the hierarchy is gone.

Adapted: the background rests, the surface keeps the plate’s colour and the accent earns the button.

How to use it

ProportionDistribute, don't equalise: #fff2ef on 60% of the screen, #d7b7ad on 30% (cards, bands, headers) and #0c7588 on 10%, only on buttons and links. A colour loses force the more surface it covers; what looks intense on the plate softens at full screen.
TextNo pair on the plate read as text (the best gave 3.8:1). That is why body text goes in #27222c, a near-neutral ink tinted with the palette's hue: it is not in the book, and it is needed.
The buttonThe accent #0c7588 stands 4.9:1 apart from the background: it works as a button, with text in #fcf5f3.
TemperatureWarm and cool together: let one lead and the other point. Here the background #d7b7ad leads, and the accent #0c7588 is the first thing the eye will look for.
How manyThree colours is the comfortable measure: background, text and one accent. Don't add a fourth unless it earns its place by contrast or by hue.
In the dictionaryIn the dictionary it sits among the contrasting-hue sets: hues deliberately set against each other. The contrast is already there; don't force it with shadows or blacks. It is one of the pale ones: muted tones that get along; running text needs an ink from outside, near black.

The kit · ramps and statesFor the design system

The kit

A brand needs four colours; an interface needs a good deal more. This is what you'd otherwise invent by hand once you take four hex codes into the editor.

Click any swatch to copy it.

The accent’s tints

The neutrals, tinted with the accent

Button states and alerts

The kit · night and code125

The same plate, at night

The same colour, at night.

The background isn’t pure black: it carries a little of the accent’s hue. That’s what separates a designed dark mode from one that looks like a fault.

A button

Take it with you

/* Wada combination 125 — bluenze.com/paletas */
:root {
  --fondo: #fff2ef;
  --superficie: #d7b7ad;
  --texto: #27222c;
  --tinta: #27222c;
  --texto-suave: #686070;
  --titular: #674696;
  --acento: #0c7588;
  --acento-texto: #fcf5f3;
  --enlace: #03788c;
  --borde: #dfcec9;

  /* la lámina de Wada, tal cual */
  --lamina-1: #d7b7ad;
  --lamina-2: #008ea5;
  --lamina-3: #674696;

  --acento-50: #edf8fc;
  --acento-100: #daeff4;
  --acento-200: #bbdde6;
  --acento-300: #94c6d4;
  --acento-400: #69adbe;
  --acento-500: #3d94a7;
  --acento-600: #0c7588;
  --acento-700: #046070;
  --acento-800: #034753;
  --acento-900: #002f38;
  --neutro-50: #f5f7f7;
  --neutro-100: #e8eced;
  --neutro-200: #d2d8da;
  --neutro-300: #b7c0c2;
  --neutro-400: #9aa5a8;
  --neutro-500: #7f8b8e;
  --neutro-600: #667275;
  --neutro-700: #4f595c;
  --neutro-800: #394143;
  --neutro-900: #252b2d;

  --boton: #0c7588;
  --boton-encima: #0a6273;
  --boton-pulsado: #02515f;
  --boton-apagado: #a5b0b3;
  --foco: #0b7588;

  --exito: #457942;
  --aviso: #9e8b48;
  --error: #a45747;
  --info: #3670ac;
}

@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --fondo: #172427;
    --superficie: #213135;
    --borde: #374a4f;
    --texto: #e8eff1;
    --tinta: #e8eff1;
    --texto-suave: #aab2b4;
    --acento: #4ca1b5;
    --acento-texto: #1d2527;
  }
}

Open the card →Post on LinkedIn →

Goethe’s readingWhat it conveys

What this combination conveys, and why.

Wada tells you which colours go together. Goethe, a century earlier, explains why a combination means something or means nothing, and what each colour does depending on how much of the screen it takes. His circle has six colours and three oppositions, and every verdict below carries the paragraph it comes from.

What it conveys, by where each colour landed

The palette crosses both sides of the circle, active and passive. It carries the most tension and most needs one of the two to lead.

Surface · orange
Orange fills a surface with energy and never lets go. It works if the rest of the palette keeps quiet; otherwise it tires before the first screenful is over. § 775
Accent · blue
Blue recedes, and an accent is asked to do the opposite. As a link it only has to be distinguishable; as a primary button it needs contrast to do the work the colour will not. § 781
Heading · violet
The violet that would be intolerable as a background works in a border or a button. Same colour, different dose: this is a rule about surface, not about hue. § 790

How each pair readsZur Farbenlehre · 1810

How each pair reads on the circle

Opposite #d7b7ad · #008ea5
Opposite on the circle: together they complete what the eye asks for on its own. It is the only category Goethe approves without reservation. § 810
This verdict is ours. Goethe judges four of the six pairs in this group and says so himself, or one of the two colours sits right between two sectors of the circle.
Characteristic #d7b7ad · #674696
Orange and violet, with red skipped. It excites because it hints at pure red without ever showing it. § 822
Adjacent #008ea5 · #674696
Adjacent on the circle, with no colour between them to keep them apart. They are saved by proportion: one has to lead and the other to follow. § 828
This verdict is ours. Goethe judges four of the six pairs in this group and says so himself, or one of the two colours sits right between two sectors of the circle.

Criteria taken from Zur Farbenlehre (1810), in Eastlake's 1840 translation, which is public domain. The explanations are ours: from a book you take the substance, not the wording. The light values usually credited to Goethe for working out surface proportions are not in the Farbenlehre — they are Itten's, 1961, and that is how they are credited in the adaptation rules.

Plate 02 of 05 · Wada combination 175

All five ↑

The plate, as printedHaishoku Sōkan · 1933

Wada combination 175

Pinkish Cinnamon#f0ba83
Olive Buff#cdcd9b
Blue Violet#674696

It contains a colour very close to the starting purple (Blue Violet) and has been in use for almost a century. The original colours are called Pinkish Cinnamon · Olive Buff · Blue Violet.

3 colours in equal parts, as in the book. It is the inspiration, not the interface. Click one to copy it.

See this combination →

Plate · MixesThree parts to one

The three colours, mixed two by two

3 parts pinkish cinnamon1 part olive buff
3 parts olive buff1 part blue violet
3 parts blue violet1 part pinkish cinnamon
3 parts pinkish cinnamon1 part blue violet
3 parts olive buff1 part pinkish cinnamon
3 parts blue violet1 part olive buff

This is where the in-betweens the plate doesn’t carry come from: borders, card backgrounds, disabled states. The mix is done in OKLab, which is closer to mixing paint than to averaging numbers. Click the result to copy it.

On screen · the split60 · 30 · 10

Adapted for screen

The same hue as the plate with the lightness moved to where an interface needs it: the background rests, the surface keeps the colour from the book and the accent earns the button. Each role says which colour it comes from and what was done to it. Click any to copy.

60% BackgroundWhere the eye rests: most of the screen. The plate's #cdcd9b, lightened.
30% SurfaceCards, bands, headers. This is where the book's colour lives. From the plate, as is (#cdcd9b).
10% AccentOnly what gets clicked. The plate's #f0ba83, darkened.

The roles the plate doesn’t carry

Measured, before and after

On the plate, the best pair of colours reads at 4.4:1: only good for large text.Falls short
On screen, the text #27222c on the background #f7f6e4 gives 14.2:1: AAA, reads with room to spare. APCA gives Lc 97: good for small text, the kind you read a paragraph of.Passes
The accent #8f6230 stands 4.8:1 from the background (a button needs 3:1) and as a link reaches 4.5:1 (a word needs 4.5:1).Passes

Out in the worldAdapted

This is the plate with a whole screen to fill.

This paragraph is here so you can see real text on a real background, which is where half of the pretty palettes fall over. If it's hard to read, now you know. And this is a link.

A card

Secondary surfaces use the support colour. If it doesn't separate from the background, the hierarchy is gone.

Adapted: the background rests, the surface keeps the plate’s colour and the accent earns the button.

How to use it

ProportionDistribute, don't equalise: #f7f6e4 on 60% of the screen, #cdcd9b on 30% (cards, bands, headers) and #8f6230 on 10%, only on buttons and links. A colour loses force the more surface it covers; what looks intense on the plate softens at full screen.
TextNo pair on the plate read as text (the best gave 4.4:1). That is why body text goes in #27222c, a near-neutral ink tinted with the palette's hue: it is not in the book, and it is needed.
The buttonThe accent #8f6230 stands 4.8:1 apart from the background: it works as a button, with text in #f7f7ef.
TemperatureWarm and cool together: let one lead and the other point. Here the background #cdcd9b leads, and the accent #8f6230 is the first thing the eye will look for.
How manyThree colours is the comfortable measure: background, text and one accent. Don't add a fourth unless it earns its place by contrast or by hue.
In the dictionaryIn the dictionary it sits among the contrasting-hue sets: hues deliberately set against each other. The contrast is already there; don't force it with shadows or blacks. It is one of the light ones: works on white and on screen; in print it loses body, so push the ink a notch.

The kit · ramps and statesFor the design system

The kit

A brand needs four colours; an interface needs a good deal more. This is what you'd otherwise invent by hand once you take four hex codes into the editor.

Click any swatch to copy it.

The accent’s tints

The neutrals, tinted with the accent

Button states and alerts

The kit · night and code175

The same plate, at night

The same colour, at night.

The background isn’t pure black: it carries a little of the accent’s hue. That’s what separates a designed dark mode from one that looks like a fault.

A button

Take it with you

/* Wada combination 175 — bluenze.com/paletas */
:root {
  --fondo: #f7f6e4;
  --superficie: #cdcd9b;
  --texto: #27222c;
  --tinta: #27222c;
  --texto-suave: #686070;
  --titular: #674696;
  --acento: #8f6230;
  --acento-texto: #f7f7ef;
  --enlace: #946734;
  --borde: #d4d3bc;

  /* la lámina de Wada, tal cual */
  --lamina-1: #f0ba83;
  --lamina-2: #cdcd9b;
  --lamina-3: #674696;

  --acento-50: #fff5ec;
  --acento-100: #fae8d8;
  --acento-200: #eed2b9;
  --acento-300: #ddb794;
  --acento-400: #c89a6d;
  --acento-500: #b07f4c;
  --acento-600: #8f6230;
  --acento-700: #754f25;
  --acento-800: #583917;
  --acento-900: #3c2509;
  --neutro-50: #f8f6f5;
  --neutro-100: #edeae8;
  --neutro-200: #dad6d3;
  --neutro-300: #c3bdb8;
  --neutro-400: #a9a29c;
  --neutro-500: #8f8781;
  --neutro-600: #766e68;
  --neutro-700: #5c5651;
  --neutro-800: #443f3b;
  --neutro-900: #2d2926;

  --boton: #8f6230;
  --boton-encima: #7c5120;
  --boton-pulsado: #664217;
  --boton-apagado: #b7ada5;
  --foco: #9a5d06;

  --exito: #457942;
  --aviso: #9e8b48;
  --error: #a45747;
  --info: #3670ac;
}

@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --fondo: #292017;
    --superficie: #382c21;
    --borde: #534437;
    --texto: #f3ede7;
    --tinta: #f3ede7;
    --texto-suave: #b7afa9;
    --acento: #be8c58;
    --acento-texto: #29231d;
  }
}

Open the card →Post on LinkedIn →

Goethe’s readingWhat it conveys

What this combination conveys, and why.

Wada tells you which colours go together. Goethe, a century earlier, explains why a combination means something or means nothing, and what each colour does depending on how much of the screen it takes. His circle has six colours and three oppositions, and every verdict below carries the paragraph it comes from.

What it conveys, by where each colour landed

The palette crosses both sides of the circle, active and passive. It carries the most tension and most needs one of the two to lead.

Surface · yellow
Yellow across a large surface is a gamble. It is the least forgiving colour: the slightest drift towards green turns gold into dirt, and on screen that drift is supplied by compression or a gradient. § 770
Accent · orange
Orange in a small patch is the accent that needs no explaining: it advances, it is seen, and it does not need size to do it. § 775
Heading · violet
The violet that would be intolerable as a background works in a border or a button. Same colour, different dose: this is a rule about surface, not about hue. § 790

What is happening to this palette

#f0ba83 and #cdcd9b are neighbours on the circle and only 2 points of lightness apart. This is the failure Goethe describes without naming it: well-chosen colours placed at the wrong value. They vibrate, and neither can be read on top of the other. § 899

How each pair readsZur Farbenlehre · 1810

How each pair reads on the circle

Adjacent #f0ba83 · #cdcd9b
Adjacent on the circle, with no colour between them to keep them apart. They are saved by proportion: one has to lead and the other to follow. § 828
Characteristic #f0ba83 · #674696
Orange and violet, with red skipped. It excites because it hints at pure red without ever showing it. § 822
Opposite #cdcd9b · #674696
Opposite on the circle: together they complete what the eye asks for on its own. It is the only category Goethe approves without reservation. § 810

Criteria taken from Zur Farbenlehre (1810), in Eastlake's 1840 translation, which is public domain. The explanations are ours: from a book you take the substance, not the wording. The light values usually credited to Goethe for working out surface proportions are not in the Farbenlehre — they are Itten's, 1961, and that is how they are credited in the adaptation rules.

Plate 03 of 05 · Complementary

All five ↑

The plate, as printedRule of harmony · not in the book

Complementary

Accent#6b4a8c
Support#8ba772
Background#f5f2fa
Text#1f2b13

The starting purple and the one opposite it on the wheel, plus a light neutral and a dark version for background and text. For brands that want attention: the accent jumps out because the eye reads it as the opposite of everything else.

The colours the rule gives, raw and in equal parts. It is the starting point, not the interface. Click one to copy it.

Plate · MixesThree parts to one

The four colours, mixed two by two

3 parts #6b4a8c1 part #8ba772
3 parts #8ba7721 part #f5f2fa
3 parts #f5f2fa1 part #1f2b13
3 parts #1f2b131 part #6b4a8c
3 parts #6b4a8c1 part #f5f2fa
3 parts #8ba7721 part #1f2b13
3 parts #f5f2fa1 part #6b4a8c
3 parts #1f2b131 part #8ba772
3 parts #6b4a8c1 part #1f2b13
3 parts #8ba7721 part #6b4a8c
3 parts #f5f2fa1 part #8ba772
3 parts #1f2b131 part #f5f2fa

This is where the in-betweens the plate doesn’t carry come from: borders, card backgrounds, disabled states. The mix is done in OKLab, which is closer to mixing paint than to averaging numbers. Click the result to copy it.

On screen · the split60 · 30 · 10

Adapted for screen

60% BackgroundWhere the eye rests: most of the screen. The plate's #f5f2fa, lightened.
30% SurfaceCards, bands, headers. This is where the book's colour lives. The plate's #f5f2fa, darkened.
10% AccentOnly what gets clicked. From the plate, as is (#6b4a8c).

The roles the plate doesn’t carry

Measured, before and after

On the plate, the best pair of colours reads at 13.4:1: AAA, reads with room to spare.Passes
On screen, the text #222420 on the background #f6f4f9 gives 14.3:1: AAA, reads with room to spare. APCA gives Lc 97: good for small text, the kind you read a paragraph of.Passes
The accent #6b4a8c stands 6.4:1 from the background (a button needs 3:1) and as a link reaches 6.4:1 (a word needs 4.5:1).Passes

Out in the worldAdapted

This is the plate with a whole screen to fill.

This paragraph is here so you can see real text on a real background, which is where half of the pretty palettes fall over. If it's hard to read, now you know. And this is a link.

A card

Secondary surfaces use the support colour. If it doesn't separate from the background, the hierarchy is gone.

Adapted: the background rests, the surface keeps the plate’s colour and the accent earns the button.

How to use it

ProportionDistribute, don't equalise: #f6f4f9 on 60% of the screen, #e4e1e9 on 30% (cards, bands, headers) and #6b4a8c on 10%, only on buttons and links. A colour loses force the more surface it covers; what looks intense on the plate softens at full screen.
TextBody text goes in #222420, a near-neutral ink tinted with the palette's hue, even though the plate had a pair that read: a saturated colour as text tires by the third line. The book's colour enters through the heading, in #1f2b13, where size forgives.
The buttonThe accent #6b4a8c stands 6.4:1 apart from the background: it works as a button, with text in #f7f6f8.
TemperatureAll cool: orderly and serious. So it doesn't feel distant, leave plenty of air and use the accent generously on whatever you want touched.
How manyFour colours demand discipline: #e4e1e9 and #1f2b13 are the base, the other two are detail. If in doubt, drop the support colour before the accent.

The kit · ramps and statesFor the design system

The kit

A brand needs four colours; an interface needs a good deal more. This is what you'd otherwise invent by hand once you take four hex codes into the editor.

Click any swatch to copy it.

The accent’s tints

The neutrals, tinted with the accent

Button states and alerts

The kit · night and codeR·01

The same plate, at night

The same colour, at night.

The background isn’t pure black: it carries a little of the accent’s hue. That’s what separates a designed dark mode from one that looks like a fault.

A button

Take it with you

/* Complementary — bluenze.com/paletas */
:root {
  --fondo: #f6f4f9;
  --superficie: #e4e1e9;
  --texto: #222420;
  --tinta: #222420;
  --texto-suave: #62645e;
  --titular: #1f2b13;
  --acento: #6b4a8c;
  --acento-texto: #f7f6f8;
  --enlace: #6b4a8c;
  --borde: #d2d1d5;
  --apoyo-1: #8ba772;

  /* la lámina, tal cual */
  --lamina-1: #6b4a8c;
  --lamina-2: #8ba772;
  --lamina-3: #f5f2fa;
  --lamina-4: #1f2b13;

  --acento-50: #faf4ff;
  --acento-100: #f3e7fc;
  --acento-200: #e3d0f3;
  --acento-300: #ceb4e5;
  --acento-400: #b796d4;
  --acento-500: #9e7ac0;
  --acento-600: #8361a4;
  --acento-700: #6b4a8c;
  --acento-800: #4d3664;
  --acento-900: #342245;
  --neutro-50: #f7f6f7;
  --neutro-100: #eceaed;
  --neutro-200: #d9d6da;
  --neutro-300: #c0bdc3;
  --neutro-400: #a6a2a9;
  --neutro-500: #8c878f;
  --neutro-600: #726e76;
  --neutro-700: #59565c;
  --neutro-800: #423f44;
  --neutro-900: #2b292d;

  --boton: #6b4a8c;
  --boton-encima: #593a7a;
  --boton-pulsado: #472b64;
  --boton-apagado: #9e98a3;
  --foco: #7042a2;

  --exito: #407a3e;
  --aviso: #9f8a40;
  --error: #a95543;
  --info: #2670b3;
}

@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --fondo: #251f2b;
    --superficie: #332b3a;
    --borde: #4d4355;
    --texto: #f1ecf4;
    --tinta: #f1ecf4;
    --texto-suave: #b4afb7;
    --acento: #ac87ce;
    --acento-texto: #26222a;
  }
}

Open the card →Post on LinkedIn →

Goethe’s readingWhat it conveys

What this combination conveys, and why.

Wada tells you which colours go together. Goethe, a century earlier, explains why a combination means something or means nothing, and what each colour does depending on how much of the screen it takes. His circle has six colours and three oppositions, and every verdict below carries the paragraph it comes from.

What it conveys, by where each colour landed

The whole palette sits on the passive side: the colours that recede, cool and draw the eye inward.

Accent · violet
The violet that would be intolerable as a background works in a border or a button. Same colour, different dose: this is a rule about surface, not about hue. § 790
Heading · green
Green is the colour of rest, so as an accent it points at nothing: the eye accepts it and moves on. If this palette needs something to stop the eye, this is not it. § 802

How each pair readsZur Farbenlehre · 1810

How each pair reads on the circle

Characteristic #6b4a8c · #8ba772
Characteristic by geometry — there is a colour skipped between the two. But Goethe judges only four pairs in this group, and this is not one of them. § 823
This verdict is ours. Goethe judges four of the six pairs in this group and says so himself, or one of the two colours sits right between two sectors of the circle.
With a neutral #6b4a8c · #f5f2fa
Next to white, a colour from the passive side gains in liveliness. § 831
Characteristic #6b4a8c · #1f2b13
Characteristic by geometry — there is a colour skipped between the two. But Goethe judges only four pairs in this group, and this is not one of them. § 823
This verdict is ours. Goethe judges four of the six pairs in this group and says so himself, or one of the two colours sits right between two sectors of the circle.
With a neutral #8ba772 · #f5f2fa
A neutral with a colour that has no side on the circle. Goethe has nothing to say here. § 831
Same sector #8ba772 · #1f2b13
Both fall in the same sector of the circle. There is no hue contrast, so whatever separates them will have to be lightness. § 832
This verdict is ours. Goethe judges four of the six pairs in this group and says so himself, or one of the two colours sits right between two sectors of the circle.
With a neutral #f5f2fa · #1f2b13
A neutral with a colour that has no side on the circle. Goethe has nothing to say here. § 831

Criteria taken from Zur Farbenlehre (1810), in Eastlake's 1840 translation, which is public domain. The explanations are ours: from a book you take the substance, not the wording. The light values usually credited to Goethe for working out surface proportions are not in the Farbenlehre — they are Itten's, 1961, and that is how they are credited in the adaptation rules.

Plate 04 of 05 · Analogous

All five ↑

The plate, as printedRule of harmony · not in the book

Analogous

Support#7578b4
Accent#6b4a8c
Text#542854
Background#f5f2fa

The starting purple and its two neighbours on the wheel, plus a neutral that lets them breathe. For calm brands: everything looks like one family and nothing shouts.

The colours the rule gives, raw and in equal parts. It is the starting point, not the interface. Click one to copy it.

Plate · MixesThree parts to one

The four colours, mixed two by two

3 parts #7578b41 part #6b4a8c
3 parts #6b4a8c1 part #542854
3 parts #5428541 part #f5f2fa
3 parts #f5f2fa1 part #7578b4
3 parts #7578b41 part #542854
3 parts #6b4a8c1 part #f5f2fa
3 parts #5428541 part #7578b4
3 parts #f5f2fa1 part #6b4a8c
3 parts #7578b41 part #f5f2fa
3 parts #6b4a8c1 part #7578b4
3 parts #5428541 part #6b4a8c
3 parts #f5f2fa1 part #542854

This is where the in-betweens the plate doesn’t carry come from: borders, card backgrounds, disabled states. The mix is done in OKLab, which is closer to mixing paint than to averaging numbers. Click the result to copy it.

On screen · the split60 · 30 · 10

Adapted for screen

60% BackgroundWhere the eye rests: most of the screen. The plate's #f5f2fa, lightened.
30% SurfaceCards, bands, headers. This is where the book's colour lives. The plate's #f5f2fa, darkened.
10% AccentOnly what gets clicked. From the plate, as is (#6b4a8c).

The roles the plate doesn’t carry

Measured, before and after

On the plate, the best pair of colours reads at 10.4:1: AAA, reads with room to spare.Passes
On screen, the text #292128 on the background #f6f4f9 gives 14.3:1: AAA, reads with room to spare. APCA gives Lc 97: good for small text, the kind you read a paragraph of.Passes
The accent #6b4a8c stands 6.4:1 from the background (a button needs 3:1) and as a link reaches 6.4:1 (a word needs 4.5:1).Passes

Out in the worldAdapted

This is the plate with a whole screen to fill.

This paragraph is here so you can see real text on a real background, which is where half of the pretty palettes fall over. If it's hard to read, now you know. And this is a link.

A card

Secondary surfaces use the support colour. If it doesn't separate from the background, the hierarchy is gone.

Adapted: the background rests, the surface keeps the plate’s colour and the accent earns the button.

How to use it

ProportionDistribute, don't equalise: #f6f4f9 on 60% of the screen, #e4e1e9 on 30% (cards, bands, headers) and #6b4a8c on 10%, only on buttons and links. A colour loses force the more surface it covers; what looks intense on the plate softens at full screen.
TextBody text goes in #292128, a near-neutral ink tinted with the palette's hue, even though the plate had a pair that read: a saturated colour as text tires by the third line. The book's colour enters through the heading, in #542854, where size forgives.
The buttonThe accent #6b4a8c stands 6.4:1 apart from the background: it works as a button, with text in #f7f6f8.
TemperatureAll cool: orderly and serious. So it doesn't feel distant, leave plenty of air and use the accent generously on whatever you want touched.
How manyFour colours demand discipline: #e4e1e9 and #542854 are the base, the other two are detail. If in doubt, drop the support colour before the accent.

The kit · ramps and statesFor the design system

The kit

A brand needs four colours; an interface needs a good deal more. This is what you'd otherwise invent by hand once you take four hex codes into the editor.

Click any swatch to copy it.

The accent’s tints

The neutrals, tinted with the accent

Button states and alerts

The kit · night and codeR·02

The same plate, at night

The same colour, at night.

The background isn’t pure black: it carries a little of the accent’s hue. That’s what separates a designed dark mode from one that looks like a fault.

A button

Take it with you

/* Analogous — bluenze.com/paletas */
:root {
  --fondo: #f6f4f9;
  --superficie: #e4e1e9;
  --texto: #292128;
  --tinta: #292128;
  --texto-suave: #6a6069;
  --titular: #542854;
  --acento: #6b4a8c;
  --acento-texto: #f7f6f8;
  --enlace: #6b4a8c;
  --borde: #d2d1d5;
  --apoyo-1: #7578b4;

  /* la lámina, tal cual */
  --lamina-1: #7578b4;
  --lamina-2: #6b4a8c;
  --lamina-3: #542854;
  --lamina-4: #f5f2fa;

  --acento-50: #faf4ff;
  --acento-100: #f3e7fc;
  --acento-200: #e3d0f3;
  --acento-300: #ceb4e5;
  --acento-400: #b796d4;
  --acento-500: #9e7ac0;
  --acento-600: #8361a4;
  --acento-700: #6b4a8c;
  --acento-800: #4d3664;
  --acento-900: #342245;
  --neutro-50: #f7f6f7;
  --neutro-100: #eceaed;
  --neutro-200: #d9d6da;
  --neutro-300: #c0bdc3;
  --neutro-400: #a6a2a9;
  --neutro-500: #8c878f;
  --neutro-600: #726e76;
  --neutro-700: #59565c;
  --neutro-800: #423f44;
  --neutro-900: #2b292d;

  --boton: #6b4a8c;
  --boton-encima: #593a7a;
  --boton-pulsado: #472b64;
  --boton-apagado: #9e98a3;
  --foco: #7042a2;

  --exito: #407a3e;
  --aviso: #9f8a40;
  --error: #a95543;
  --info: #2670b3;
}

@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --fondo: #251f2b;
    --superficie: #332b3a;
    --borde: #4d4355;
    --texto: #f1ecf4;
    --tinta: #f1ecf4;
    --texto-suave: #b4afb7;
    --acento: #ac87ce;
    --acento-texto: #26222a;
  }
}

Open the card →Post on LinkedIn →

Goethe’s readingWhat it conveys

What this combination conveys, and why.

Wada tells you which colours go together. Goethe, a century earlier, explains why a combination means something or means nothing, and what each colour does depending on how much of the screen it takes. His circle has six colours and three oppositions, and every verdict below carries the paragraph it comes from.

What it conveys, by where each colour landed

The whole palette sits on the passive side: the colours that recede, cool and draw the eye inward.

Accent and Heading · violet
The violet that would be intolerable as a background works in a border or a button. Same colour, different dose: this is a rule about surface, not about hue. § 790

How each pair readsZur Farbenlehre · 1810

How each pair reads on the circle

Adjacent #7578b4 · #6b4a8c
Adjacent on the circle, with no colour between them to keep them apart. They are saved by proportion: one has to lead and the other to follow. § 828
Adjacent #7578b4 · #542854
Adjacent on the circle, with no colour between them to keep them apart. They are saved by proportion: one has to lead and the other to follow. § 828
With a neutral #7578b4 · #f5f2fa
Next to white, a colour from the passive side gains in liveliness. § 831
Same sector #6b4a8c · #542854
Both fall in the same sector of the circle. There is no hue contrast, so whatever separates them will have to be lightness. § 832
This verdict is ours. Goethe judges four of the six pairs in this group and says so himself, or one of the two colours sits right between two sectors of the circle.
With a neutral #6b4a8c · #f5f2fa
Next to white, a colour from the passive side gains in liveliness. § 831
With a neutral #542854 · #f5f2fa
Next to white, a colour from the passive side gains in liveliness. § 831

Criteria taken from Zur Farbenlehre (1810), in Eastlake's 1840 translation, which is public domain. The explanations are ours: from a book you take the substance, not the wording. The light values usually credited to Goethe for working out surface proportions are not in the Farbenlehre — they are Itten's, 1961, and that is how they are credited in the adaptation rules.

Plate 05 of 05 · Monochrome with accent

All five ↑

The plate, as printedRule of harmony · not in the book

Monochrome with accent

Text#362448
Accent#6b4a8c
Background#ede3fa
Support#88a968

One hue in three lights and a small accent opposite it. The one studios use most: the brand is recognised by one colour and the accent does the work of pointing at buttons and links.

The colours the rule gives, raw and in equal parts. It is the starting point, not the interface. Click one to copy it.

Plate · MixesThree parts to one

The four colours, mixed two by two

3 parts #3624481 part #6b4a8c
3 parts #6b4a8c1 part #ede3fa
3 parts #ede3fa1 part #88a968
3 parts #88a9681 part #362448
3 parts #3624481 part #ede3fa
3 parts #6b4a8c1 part #88a968
3 parts #ede3fa1 part #362448
3 parts #88a9681 part #6b4a8c
3 parts #3624481 part #88a968
3 parts #6b4a8c1 part #362448
3 parts #ede3fa1 part #6b4a8c
3 parts #88a9681 part #ede3fa

This is where the in-betweens the plate doesn’t carry come from: borders, card backgrounds, disabled states. The mix is done in OKLab, which is closer to mixing paint than to averaging numbers. Click the result to copy it.

On screen · the split60 · 30 · 10

Adapted for screen

60% BackgroundWhere the eye rests: most of the screen. The plate's #ede3fa, lightened.
30% SurfaceCards, bands, headers. This is where the book's colour lives. From the plate, as is (#ede3fa).
10% AccentOnly what gets clicked. From the plate, as is (#6b4a8c).

The roles the plate doesn’t carry

Measured, before and after

On the plate, the best pair of colours reads at 11.2:1: AAA, reads with room to spare.Passes
On screen, the text #262228 on the background #f8f3ff gives 14.3:1: AAA, reads with room to spare. APCA gives Lc 97: good for small text, the kind you read a paragraph of.Passes
The accent #6b4a8c stands 6.4:1 from the background (a button needs 3:1) and as a link reaches 6.4:1 (a word needs 4.5:1).Passes

Out in the worldAdapted

This is the plate with a whole screen to fill.

This paragraph is here so you can see real text on a real background, which is where half of the pretty palettes fall over. If it's hard to read, now you know. And this is a link.

A card

Secondary surfaces use the support colour. If it doesn't separate from the background, the hierarchy is gone.

Adapted: the background rests, the surface keeps the plate’s colour and the accent earns the button.

How to use it

ProportionDistribute, don't equalise: #f8f3ff on 60% of the screen, #ede3fa on 30% (cards, bands, headers) and #6b4a8c on 10%, only on buttons and links. A colour loses force the more surface it covers; what looks intense on the plate softens at full screen.
TextBody text goes in #262228, a near-neutral ink tinted with the palette's hue, even though the plate had a pair that read: a saturated colour as text tires by the third line. The book's colour enters through the heading, in #362448, where size forgives.
The buttonThe accent #6b4a8c stands 6.4:1 apart from the background: it works as a button, with text in #f8f6fa.
TemperatureAll cool: orderly and serious. So it doesn't feel distant, leave plenty of air and use the accent generously on whatever you want touched.
How manyFour colours demand discipline: #ede3fa and #362448 are the base, the other two are detail. If in doubt, drop the support colour before the accent.

The kit · ramps and statesFor the design system

The kit

A brand needs four colours; an interface needs a good deal more. This is what you'd otherwise invent by hand once you take four hex codes into the editor.

Click any swatch to copy it.

The accent’s tints

The neutrals, tinted with the accent

Button states and alerts

The kit · night and codeR·03

The same plate, at night

The same colour, at night.

The background isn’t pure black: it carries a little of the accent’s hue. That’s what separates a designed dark mode from one that looks like a fault.

A button

Take it with you

/* Monochrome with accent — bluenze.com/paletas */
:root {
  --fondo: #f8f3ff;
  --superficie: #ede3fa;
  --texto: #262228;
  --tinta: #262228;
  --texto-suave: #666269;
  --titular: #362448;
  --acento: #6b4a8c;
  --acento-texto: #f8f6fa;
  --enlace: #6b4a8c;
  --borde: #d5d0db;
  --apoyo-1: #88a968;

  /* la lámina, tal cual */
  --lamina-1: #362448;
  --lamina-2: #6b4a8c;
  --lamina-3: #ede3fa;
  --lamina-4: #88a968;

  --acento-50: #faf4ff;
  --acento-100: #f3e7fc;
  --acento-200: #e3d0f3;
  --acento-300: #ceb4e5;
  --acento-400: #b796d4;
  --acento-500: #9e7ac0;
  --acento-600: #8361a4;
  --acento-700: #6b4a8c;
  --acento-800: #4d3664;
  --acento-900: #342245;
  --neutro-50: #f7f6f7;
  --neutro-100: #eceaed;
  --neutro-200: #d9d6da;
  --neutro-300: #c0bdc3;
  --neutro-400: #a6a2a9;
  --neutro-500: #8c878f;
  --neutro-600: #726e76;
  --neutro-700: #59565c;
  --neutro-800: #423f44;
  --neutro-900: #2b292d;

  --boton: #6b4a8c;
  --boton-encima: #593a7a;
  --boton-pulsado: #472b64;
  --boton-apagado: #9e98a3;
  --foco: #7042a2;

  --exito: #407a3e;
  --aviso: #9f8a40;
  --error: #a95543;
  --info: #2670b3;
}

@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --fondo: #251f2b;
    --superficie: #332b3a;
    --borde: #4d4355;
    --texto: #f1ecf4;
    --tinta: #f1ecf4;
    --texto-suave: #b4afb7;
    --acento: #ac87ce;
    --acento-texto: #26222a;
  }
}

Open the card →Post on LinkedIn →

Goethe’s readingWhat it conveys

What this combination conveys, and why.

Wada tells you which colours go together. Goethe, a century earlier, explains why a combination means something or means nothing, and what each colour does depending on how much of the screen it takes. His circle has six colours and three oppositions, and every verdict below carries the paragraph it comes from.

What it conveys, by where each colour landed

The whole palette sits on the passive side: the colours that recede, cool and draw the eye inward.

Surface · violet
Goethe puts it bluntly: a large surface of pure violet would be intolerable. It holds up here because the screen adaptation has taken the chroma down. On the plate, at full saturation, it would not. § 790
Accent and Heading · violet
The violet that would be intolerable as a background works in a border or a button. Same colour, different dose: this is a rule about surface, not about hue. § 790

How each pair readsZur Farbenlehre · 1810

How each pair reads on the circle

Same sector #362448 · #6b4a8c
Both fall in the same sector of the circle. There is no hue contrast, so whatever separates them will have to be lightness. § 832
This verdict is ours. Goethe judges four of the six pairs in this group and says so himself, or one of the two colours sits right between two sectors of the circle.
Same sector #362448 · #ede3fa
Both fall in the same sector of the circle. There is no hue contrast, so whatever separates them will have to be lightness. § 832
This verdict is ours. Goethe judges four of the six pairs in this group and says so himself, or one of the two colours sits right between two sectors of the circle.
Characteristic #362448 · #88a968
Characteristic by geometry — there is a colour skipped between the two. But Goethe judges only four pairs in this group, and this is not one of them. § 823
This verdict is ours. Goethe judges four of the six pairs in this group and says so himself, or one of the two colours sits right between two sectors of the circle.
Same sector #6b4a8c · #ede3fa
Both fall in the same sector of the circle. There is no hue contrast, so whatever separates them will have to be lightness. § 832
This verdict is ours. Goethe judges four of the six pairs in this group and says so himself, or one of the two colours sits right between two sectors of the circle.
Characteristic #6b4a8c · #88a968
Characteristic by geometry — there is a colour skipped between the two. But Goethe judges only four pairs in this group, and this is not one of them. § 823
This verdict is ours. Goethe judges four of the six pairs in this group and says so himself, or one of the two colours sits right between two sectors of the circle.
Characteristic #ede3fa · #88a968
Characteristic by geometry — there is a colour skipped between the two. But Goethe judges only four pairs in this group, and this is not one of them. § 823
This verdict is ours. Goethe judges four of the six pairs in this group and says so himself, or one of the two colours sits right between two sectors of the circle.

Criteria taken from Zur Farbenlehre (1810), in Eastlake's 1840 translation, which is public domain. The explanations are ours: from a book you take the substance, not the wording. The light values usually credited to Goethe for working out surface proportions are not in the Farbenlehre — they are Itten's, 1961, and that is how they are credited in the adaptation rules.

What goes with purple

Five palettes with purple, each with a reason.

Fawn, Cerulian Blue, Blue Violet

Pinkish Cinnamon, Olive Buff, Blue Violet

Complementary

Analogous

Monochrome with accent

Wada combination 125

The three colours, mixed two by two

Adapted for screen

The roles the plate doesn’t carry

Measured, before and after

How to use it

The kit

The accent’s tints

The neutrals, tinted with the accent

Button states and alerts

The same plate, at night

Take it with you

What this combination conveys, and why.

What it conveys, by where each colour landed

How each pair reads on the circle

Wada combination 175

The three colours, mixed two by two

Adapted for screen

The roles the plate doesn’t carry

Measured, before and after

How to use it

The kit

The accent’s tints

The neutrals, tinted with the accent

Button states and alerts

The same plate, at night

Take it with you

What this combination conveys, and why.

What it conveys, by where each colour landed

What is happening to this palette

How each pair reads on the circle

Complementary

The four colours, mixed two by two

Adapted for screen

The roles the plate doesn’t carry

Measured, before and after

How to use it

The kit

The accent’s tints

The neutrals, tinted with the accent

Button states and alerts

The same plate, at night

Take it with you

What this combination conveys, and why.

What it conveys, by where each colour landed

How each pair reads on the circle

Analogous

The four colours, mixed two by two

Adapted for screen

The roles the plate doesn’t carry

Measured, before and after

How to use it

The kit

The accent’s tints

The neutrals, tinted with the accent

Button states and alerts

The same plate, at night

Take it with you

What this combination conveys, and why.

What it conveys, by where each colour landed

How each pair reads on the circle

Monochrome with accent

The four colours, mixed two by two

Adapted for screen

The roles the plate doesn’t carry

Measured, before and after

How to use it

The kit

The accent’s tints

The neutrals, tinted with the accent

Button states and alerts

The same plate, at night