Bluenze · Colour sample book

Family · redBluenze · Palettes

Palettes by colour

Colours that go with red

114 combinations in the book

The colour that reaches the eye fastest, and therefore the easiest to ruin: put everywhere, it stops meaning anything.

Plate · The book's 24 redsHaishoku Sōkan · 1933

From light to dark. Tap one and the book remakes itself from that colour.

Chapter 1 · What goes with itWritten, not generated

What goes with red

Red needs the least surface to be noticed. Red across half a screen isn't intense, it's exhausting; the same red on 5 % of the surface is a brand. Two families behave differently: warm reds, with orange inside, which say energy and food; and cool reds, with blue, which say luxury and drama.

The best thing beside it is a large neutral: cream, bone, stone grey, black. If a third is needed, olive green and navy are the two safe bets — the first because it's its softened complement, the second because it adds depth without arguing over the lead. Wada almost never puts two reds together, which is good advice.

There's a screen trap: red is also the colour of errors. If your accent is red, your error messages need a different red — darker or duller — or people won't know whether something broke. And pure red on black vibrates: if your brand runs dark, move towards coral or tile.

The card · For sharing1200 × 630
Colour palette red, with its hex codes
This palette’s card: it’s what shows when you share it.

Five palettes with red, each with a reason.

Two come from Wada's dictionary and three from named harmony rules. Each arrives with the roles assigned — which colour is the background, which the text, which the button — painted at page size and with the contrast measured. If you want your exact hue, change it in the tool.

See all five ↓All the dictionary combinations →Go to the tool →

Chapter 2 · Five plates with red

Chapter 2 · From the bookHaishoku Sōkan · 1933

From the book

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

246

Corinthian Pink, Brick Red, Sulphur Yellow, Cinnamon Buff

#f7bdc3 · #ab3c16 · #f8f0c8 · #fcca7f

Light · button 3:1All warmIts page →Open →

322

Spectrum Red, Brick Red, Blue Violet, Eupatorium Purple

#dc0c15 · #ab3c16 · #674696 · #c2518d

Dark · button 3.1:1Warm and coolIts page →Open →
Chapter 2 · By ruleNamed harmonies

By rule

Three plates built from red 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

#b4271f · #003b3e · #fbf1ef · #002d30

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

Dark · button 3:1Warm and coolOpen →

R·02

Analogous

#ce5a83 · #b4271f · #613900 · #fbf1ef

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

Light · button 5.9:1All warmOpen →

R·03

Monochrome with accent

#55110d · #b4271f · #ffdfda · #003b3e

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

Dark · button 3:1Warm and 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 246

All five ↑
The plate, as printedHaishoku Sōkan · 1933

Wada combination 246

  • Corinthian Pink#f7bdc3
  • Brick Red#ab3c16
  • Sulphur Yellow#f8f0c8
  • Cinnamon Buff#fcca7f

It contains a colour very close to the starting red (Brick Red) and has been in use for almost a century. The original colours are called Corinthian Pink · Brick Red · Sulphur Yellow · Cinnamon Buff.

4 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 four colours, mixed two by two

  • 3 parts corinthian pink1 part brick red
  • 3 parts brick red1 part sulphur yellow
  • 3 parts sulphur yellow1 part cinnamon buff
  • 3 parts cinnamon buff1 part corinthian pink
  • 3 parts corinthian pink1 part sulphur yellow
  • 3 parts brick red1 part cinnamon buff
  • 3 parts sulphur yellow1 part corinthian pink
  • 3 parts cinnamon buff1 part brick red
  • 3 parts corinthian pink1 part cinnamon buff
  • 3 parts brick red1 part corinthian pink
  • 3 parts sulphur yellow1 part brick red
  • 3 parts cinnamon buff1 part sulphur yellow

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 #f8f0c8, lightened.
  • 30% SurfaceCards, bands, headers. This is where the book's colour lives. The plate's #f8f0c8, darkened.
  • 10% AccentOnly what gets clicked. The plate's #fcca7f, darkened.

The roles the plate doesn’t carry

Measured, before and after

  1. On the plate, the best pair of colours reads at 5.4:1: AA, it reads.Passes
  2. On screen, the text #2e211c on the background #f9f5e4 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
  3. The accent #b0853d stands 3.0:1 from the background (a button needs 3:1) and as a link reaches 4.6:1 (a word needs 4.5:1).Passes
  4. Under deuteranopia, your accent and your background drop to 2.9:1. The button stops standing out: give it a border, change the lightness, or don't rely on colour alone to mark it.Falls short
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

  1. ProportionDistribute, don't equalise: #f9f5e4 on 60% of the screen, #e7dfb7 on 30% (cards, bands, headers) and #b0853d 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.
  2. TextBody text goes in #2e211c, 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 #ab3c16, where size forgives.
  3. The buttonThe accent #b0853d stands 3.0:1 apart from the background: it works as a button, with text in #2e211c.
  4. TemperatureAll warm: close and unified, but to make something stand out don't rely on colour, rely on light: the important thing darker or lighter than its surroundings.
  5. How manyFour colours demand discipline: #e7dfb7 and #ab3c16 are the base, the other two are detail. If in doubt, drop the support colour before the accent.
  6. In the dictionaryIn the dictionary it sits among the tone-on-tone sets: colours from one family. Hierarchy comes from light, not hue, so order elements from lightest to darkest. It is one of the mixed-light ones: it already brings hierarchy. Keep it on screen: lightest at the back, darkest in front.
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 code246

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 246 — bluenze.com/paletas */
:root {
  --fondo: #f9f5e4;
  --superficie: #e7dfb7;
  --texto: #2e211c;
  --tinta: #2e211c;
  --texto-suave: #735f58;
  --titular: #ab3c16;
  --acento: #b0853d;
  --acento-texto: #2e211c;
  --enlace: #8e671f;
  --borde: #d6d2be;
  --apoyo-1: #f7bdc3;

  /* la lámina de Wada, tal cual */
  --lamina-1: #f7bdc3;
  --lamina-2: #ab3c16;
  --lamina-3: #f8f0c8;
  --lamina-4: #fcca7f;

  --acento-50: #fff5e9;
  --acento-100: #fae8d3;
  --acento-200: #eed3b1;
  --acento-300: #dbb988;
  --acento-400: #c59c5e;
  --acento-500: #b0853d;
  --acento-600: #8f6923;
  --acento-700: #725114;
  --acento-800: #553b09;
  --acento-900: #392701;
  --neutro-50: #f7f6f5;
  --neutro-100: #edebe8;
  --neutro-200: #dad7d3;
  --neutro-300: #c2bdb8;
  --neutro-400: #a8a29c;
  --neutro-500: #8e8880;
  --neutro-600: #756f67;
  --neutro-700: #5b5650;
  --neutro-800: #433f3a;
  --neutro-900: #2d2926;

  --boton: #b0853d;
  --boton-encima: #9c732c;
  --boton-pulsado: #876323;
  --boton-apagado: #dbd1c5;
  --foco: #b9820d;

  --exito: #3b7a3a;
  --aviso: #a08a3a;
  --error: #ad5240;
  --info: #1270b8;
}

@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --fondo: #282015;
    --superficie: #372d1f;
    --borde: #514535;
    --texto: #f3ede5;
    --tinta: #f3ede5;
    --texto-suave: #b7afa7;
    --acento: #ba8e46;
    --acento-texto: #29231b;
  }
}
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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 active side of the circle: the colours that advance, warm and push outward.

  • 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 · yellow

    Yellow points, but it loses the moment the ground stops being smooth and bright. On screen that means shadows, gradients and small type on top. § 771

  • Heading · 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

How each pair readsZur Farbenlehre · 1810

How each pair reads on the circle

  • Adjacent #f7bdc3 · #ab3c16

    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 #f7bdc3 · #f8f0c8

    Yellow and red, with orange skipped between them. The characteristic pair he thinks best: serene and magnificent. § 820

  • Characteristic #f7bdc3 · #fcca7f

    Yellow and red, with orange skipped between them. The characteristic pair he thinks best: serene and magnificent. § 820

  • Adjacent #ab3c16 · #f8f0c8

    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 #ab3c16 · #fcca7f

    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

  • Same sector #f8f0c8 · #fcca7f

    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.

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 322

All five ↑
The plate, as printedHaishoku Sōkan · 1933

Wada combination 322

  • Spectrum Red#dc0c15
  • Brick Red#ab3c16
  • Blue Violet#674696
  • Eupatorium Purple#c2518d

It contains a colour very close to the starting red (Brick Red) and has been in use for almost a century. The original colours are called Spectrum Red · Brick Red · Blue Violet · Eupatorium Purple.

4 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 four colours, mixed two by two

  • 3 parts spectrum red1 part brick red
  • 3 parts brick red1 part blue violet
  • 3 parts blue violet1 part eupatorium purple
  • 3 parts eupatorium purple1 part spectrum red
  • 3 parts spectrum red1 part blue violet
  • 3 parts brick red1 part eupatorium purple
  • 3 parts blue violet1 part spectrum red
  • 3 parts eupatorium purple1 part brick red
  • 3 parts spectrum red1 part eupatorium purple
  • 3 parts brick red1 part spectrum red
  • 3 parts blue violet1 part brick red
  • 3 parts eupatorium purple1 part blue violet

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 #674696, darkened.
  • 30% SurfaceCards, bands, headers. This is where the book's colour lives. From the plate, as is (#674696).
  • 10% AccentOnly what gets clicked. From the plate, as is (#dc0c15).

The roles the plate doesn’t carry

Measured, before and after

  1. On the plate, the best pair of colours reads at 1.6:1: does not read.Falls short
  2. On screen, the text #f7ebf0 on the background #261f2d gives 13.7:1: AAA, reads with room to spare. APCA gives Lc 94: good for small text, the kind you read a paragraph of.Passes
  3. The accent #dc0c15 stands 3.1:1 from the background (a button needs 3:1) and as a link reaches 4.7:1 (a word needs 4.5:1).Passes
  4. Under protanopia, your accent and your background drop to 2.0:1. The button stops standing out: give it a border, change the lightness, or don't rely on colour alone to mark it.Falls short
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

  1. ProportionDistribute, don't equalise: #261f2d on 60% of the screen, #674696 on 30% (cards, bands, headers) and #dc0c15 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.
  2. TextNo pair on the plate read as text (the best gave 1.6:1). That is why body text goes in #f7ebf0, a near-neutral ink tinted with the palette's hue: it is not in the book, and it is needed.
  3. The buttonThe accent #dc0c15 stands 3.1:1 apart from the background: it works as a button, with text in #f9f5fc.
  4. TemperatureWarm and cool together: let one lead and the other point. Here the background #674696 leads, and the accent #dc0c15 is the first thing the eye will look for.
  5. How manyFour colours demand discipline: #674696 and #f7ebf0 are the base, the other two are detail. If in doubt, drop the support colour before the accent.
  6. In the dictionaryIn the dictionary it sits among the tone-on-tone sets: colours from one family. Hierarchy comes from light, not hue, so order elements from lightest to darkest. It is one of the dense ones: loaded colours that need plenty of air around them; less is more.
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 code322

The same plate, by day

The same colour, by day.

The palette is born dark; this is its light version. The background is not pure white: it carries a little of its hue, just as the dark one was not black.

A button

Take it with you

/* Wada combination 322 — bluenze.com/paletas */
:root {
  --fondo: #261f2d;
  --superficie: #674696;
  --texto: #f7ebf0;
  --tinta: #f7ebf0;
  --texto-suave: #beacb4;
  --titular: #d4619d;
  --acento: #dc0c15;
  --acento-texto: #f9f5fc;
  --enlace: #fc4d39;
  --borde: #4c4355;
  --apoyo-1: #ab3c16;

  /* la lámina de Wada, tal cual */
  --lamina-1: #dc0c15;
  --lamina-2: #ab3c16;
  --lamina-3: #674696;
  --lamina-4: #c2518d;

  --acento-50: #f6f6f6;
  --acento-100: #ebebeb;
  --acento-200: #d7d7d7;
  --acento-300: #ffa896;
  --acento-400: #fc7e67;
  --acento-500: #ff3e2e;
  --acento-600: #dc0c15;
  --acento-700: #b10a0f;
  --acento-800: #840608;
  --acento-900: #580a01;
  --neutro-50: #f8f6f5;
  --neutro-100: #eeeae9;
  --neutro-200: #dcd6d4;
  --neutro-300: #c5bcba;
  --neutro-400: #aba19f;
  --neutro-500: #928684;
  --neutro-600: #786d6b;
  --neutro-700: #5f5553;
  --neutro-800: #463e3d;
  --neutro-900: #2e2927;

  --boton: #dc0c15;
  --boton-encima: #f33026;
  --boton-pulsado: #ff5842;
  --boton-apagado: #4e332d;
  --foco: #db1016;

  --exito: #4ec251;
  --aviso: #d3b41c;
  --error: #fd8b74;
  --info: #6baefe;
}

@media (prefers-color-scheme: light) {
  :root {
    --fondo: #fff2ef;
    --superficie: #fde3dd;
    --borde: #e9cbc4;
    --texto: #2f201d;
    --tinta: #2f201d;
    --texto-suave: #725f5a;
    --acento: #dc0c15;
    --acento-texto: #fff4f2;
  }
}
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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 · 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 · 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 · red

    Red is the high point of the active side. In a small patch it does exactly what an accent is for: stopping the eye once. § 793

What is happening to this palette

  1. #dc0c15 and #c2518d are neighbours on the circle and only 5 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

  2. #ab3c16 and #c2518d are neighbours on the circle and only 10 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

  3. There is nowhere for the eye to rest: no neutral, no muted colour, no green. The whole palette asks for attention at once. § 802

  4. There are 14 points of lightness between the lightest and darkest colour. With no step in lightness there is no hierarchy: the palette leans entirely on hue, and hue alone does not order a screen. § 849

How each pair readsZur Farbenlehre · 1810

How each pair reads on the circle

  • Same sector #dc0c15 · #ab3c16

    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 #dc0c15 · #674696

    Orange and violet, with red skipped. It excites because it hints at pure red without ever showing it. § 822

    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.

  • Adjacent #dc0c15 · #c2518d

    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.

  • Characteristic #ab3c16 · #674696

    Orange and violet, with red skipped. It excites because it hints at pure red without ever showing it. § 822

  • Adjacent #ab3c16 · #c2518d

    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.

  • Adjacent #674696 · #c2518d

    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 03 of 05 · Complementary

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

Complementary

  • Support#b4271f
  • Accent#003b3e
  • Text#fbf1ef
  • Background#002d30

The starting red 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 #b4271f1 part #003b3e
  • 3 parts #003b3e1 part #fbf1ef
  • 3 parts #fbf1ef1 part #002d30
  • 3 parts #002d301 part #b4271f
  • 3 parts #b4271f1 part #fbf1ef
  • 3 parts #003b3e1 part #002d30
  • 3 parts #fbf1ef1 part #b4271f
  • 3 parts #002d301 part #003b3e
  • 3 parts #b4271f1 part #002d30
  • 3 parts #003b3e1 part #b4271f
  • 3 parts #fbf1ef1 part #003b3e
  • 3 parts #002d301 part #fbf1ef

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 #002d30, darkened.
  • 30% SurfaceCards, bands, headers. This is where the book's colour lives. The plate's #002d30, lightened.
  • 10% AccentOnly what gets clicked. The plate's #003b3e, lightened.

The roles the plate doesn’t carry

Measured, before and after

  1. On the plate, the best pair of colours reads at 13.3:1: AAA, reads with room to spare.Passes
  2. On screen, the text #efeded on the background #182424 gives 13.6:1: AAA, reads with room to spare. APCA gives Lc 94: good for small text, the kind you read a paragraph of.Passes
  3. The accent #437577 stands 3.0:1 from the background (a button needs 3:1) and as a link reaches 4.6:1 (a word needs 4.5:1).Passes
  4. Under deuteranopia, your accent and your background drop to 2.9:1. The button stops standing out: give it a border, change the lightness, or don't rely on colour alone to mark it.Falls short
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

  1. ProportionDistribute, don't equalise: #182424 on 60% of the screen, #103a3d on 30% (cards, bands, headers) and #437577 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.
  2. TextBody text goes in #efeded, 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 #fbf1ef, where size forgives.
  3. The buttonThe accent #437577 stands 3.0:1 apart from the background: it works as a button, with text in #f0f8f9.
  4. TemperatureWarm and cool together: let one lead and the other point. Here the background #103a3d leads, and the accent #437577 is the first thing the eye will look for.
  5. How manyFour colours demand discipline: #103a3d and #efeded 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, by day

The same colour, by day.

The palette is born dark; this is its light version. The background is not pure white: it carries a little of its hue, just as the dark one was not black.

A button

Take it with you

/* Complementary — bluenze.com/paletas */
:root {
  --fondo: #182424;
  --superficie: #103a3d;
  --texto: #efeded;
  --tinta: #efeded;
  --texto-suave: #b2b0b0;
  --titular: #fbf1ef;
  --acento: #437577;
  --acento-texto: #f0f8f9;
  --enlace: #629396;
  --borde: #3b494a;
  --apoyo-1: #b4271f;

  /* la lámina, tal cual */
  --lamina-1: #b4271f;
  --lamina-2: #003b3e;
  --lamina-3: #fbf1ef;
  --lamina-4: #002d30;

  --acento-50: #f0f8f8;
  --acento-100: #e0eeee;
  --acento-200: #c5dcdc;
  --acento-300: #a3c4c5;
  --acento-400: #80abac;
  --acento-500: #5f9193;
  --acento-600: #437577;
  --acento-700: #335e60;
  --acento-800: #234547;
  --acento-900: #132e2f;
  --neutro-50: #f5f7f7;
  --neutro-100: #e8ecec;
  --neutro-200: #d2d8d9;
  --neutro-300: #b7c0c0;
  --neutro-400: #9aa5a6;
  --neutro-500: #7e8b8c;
  --neutro-600: #657272;
  --neutro-700: #4e5959;
  --neutro-800: #394142;
  --neutro-900: #252b2b;

  --boton: #437577;
  --boton-encima: #558789;
  --boton-pulsado: #729799;
  --boton-apagado: #343a3a;
  --foco: #00797d;

  --exito: #83b87e;
  --aviso: #cbb570;
  --error: #ea9582;
  --info: #7daef0;
}

@media (prefers-color-scheme: light) {
  :root {
    --fondo: #eff7f7;
    --superficie: #dfeaeb;
    --borde: #c6d4d5;
    --texto: #1f2525;
    --tinta: #1f2525;
    --texto-suave: #5d6565;
    --acento: #437577;
    --acento-texto: #f2f7f7;
  }
}
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 active side of the circle: the colours that advance, warm and push outward.

  • Surface · green

    Green is where the eye rests. Goethe says whoever looks at it neither wishes nor is able to imagine anything beyond it, which is why it was the colour for rooms you live in. In an interface that is precisely a background. § 802

  • Accent · 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

  • Opposite #b4271f · #003b3e

    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.

  • With a neutral #b4271f · #fbf1ef

    Next to white, a colour from the active side loses force. § 831

  • Opposite #b4271f · #002d30

    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.

  • With a neutral #003b3e · #fbf1ef

    A neutral with a colour that has no side on the circle. Goethe has nothing to say here. § 831

  • Same sector #003b3e · #002d30

    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 #fbf1ef · #002d30

    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#ce5a83
  • Accent#b4271f
  • Text#613900
  • Background#fbf1ef

The starting red 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 #ce5a831 part #b4271f
  • 3 parts #b4271f1 part #613900
  • 3 parts #6139001 part #fbf1ef
  • 3 parts #fbf1ef1 part #ce5a83
  • 3 parts #ce5a831 part #613900
  • 3 parts #b4271f1 part #fbf1ef
  • 3 parts #6139001 part #ce5a83
  • 3 parts #fbf1ef1 part #b4271f
  • 3 parts #ce5a831 part #fbf1ef
  • 3 parts #b4271f1 part #ce5a83
  • 3 parts #6139001 part #b4271f
  • 3 parts #fbf1ef1 part #613900

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 #fbf1ef, lightened.
  • 30% SurfaceCards, bands, headers. This is where the book's colour lives. The plate's #fbf1ef, darkened.
  • 10% AccentOnly what gets clicked. From the plate, as is (#b4271f).

The roles the plate doesn’t carry

Measured, before and after

  1. On the plate, the best pair of colours reads at 9.0:1: AAA, reads with room to spare.Passes
  2. On screen, the text #2a221a on the background #faf4f2 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
  3. The accent #b4271f stands 5.9:1 from the background (a button needs 3:1) and as a link reaches 5.9:1 (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

  1. ProportionDistribute, don't equalise: #faf4f2 on 60% of the screen, #eae0de on 30% (cards, bands, headers) and #b4271f 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.
  2. TextBody text goes in #2a221a, 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 #613900, where size forgives.
  3. The buttonThe accent #b4271f stands 5.9:1 apart from the background: it works as a button, with text in #f8f6f6.
  4. TemperatureAll warm: close and unified, but to make something stand out don't rely on colour, rely on light: the important thing darker or lighter than its surroundings.
  5. How manyFour colours demand discipline: #eae0de and #613900 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: #faf4f2;
  --superficie: #eae0de;
  --texto: #2a221a;
  --tinta: #2a221a;
  --texto-suave: #6d6157;
  --titular: #613900;
  --acento: #b4271f;
  --acento-texto: #f8f6f6;
  --enlace: #b4271f;
  --borde: #d5d0cf;
  --apoyo-1: #ce5a83;

  /* la lámina, tal cual */
  --lamina-1: #ce5a83;
  --lamina-2: #b4271f;
  --lamina-3: #613900;
  --lamina-4: #fbf1ef;

  --acento-50: #f6f6f6;
  --acento-100: #ffe5e0;
  --acento-200: #feccc1;
  --acento-300: #fda998;
  --acento-400: #fe7d67;
  --acento-500: #ea5946;
  --acento-600: #c83e30;
  --acento-700: #b4271f;
  --acento-800: #7c1b14;
  --acento-900: #570c05;
  --neutro-50: #f8f6f5;
  --neutro-100: #eeeae9;
  --neutro-200: #dcd6d5;
  --neutro-300: #c5bcbb;
  --neutro-400: #aba19f;
  --neutro-500: #928684;
  --neutro-600: #786d6b;
  --neutro-700: #5f5553;
  --neutro-800: #463e3d;
  --neutro-900: #2e2927;

  --boton: #b4271f;
  --boton-encima: #9e0a10;
  --boton-pulsado: #810409;
  --boton-apagado: #b59b95;
  --foco: #bf0714;

  --exito: #0f7f22;
  --aviso: #a38a00;
  --error: #c53b29;
  --info: #0070bb;
}

@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --fondo: #2e1e1a;
    --superficie: #3e2925;
    --borde: #59413c;
    --texto: #f8ebe8;
    --tinta: #f8ebe8;
    --texto-suave: #bcadaa;
    --acento: #f96652;
    --acento-texto: #2f201d;
  }
}
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 active side of the circle: the colours that advance, warm and push outward.

  • Accent · red

    Red is the high point of the active side. In a small patch it does exactly what an accent is for: stopping the eye once. § 793

  • Heading · 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

What is happening to this palette

  1. #b4271f and #613900 are neighbours on the circle and only 12 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

  • Same sector #ce5a83 · #b4271f

    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.

  • Adjacent #ce5a83 · #613900

    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 #ce5a83 · #fbf1ef

    Next to white, a colour from the active side loses force. § 831

  • Adjacent #b4271f · #613900

    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.

  • With a neutral #b4271f · #fbf1ef

    Next to white, a colour from the active side loses force. § 831

  • With a neutral #613900 · #fbf1ef

    Next to white, a colour from the active side loses force. § 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

  • Background#55110d
  • Support#b4271f
  • Text#ffdfda
  • Accent#003b3e

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 #55110d1 part #b4271f
  • 3 parts #b4271f1 part #ffdfda
  • 3 parts #ffdfda1 part #003b3e
  • 3 parts #003b3e1 part #55110d
  • 3 parts #55110d1 part #ffdfda
  • 3 parts #b4271f1 part #003b3e
  • 3 parts #ffdfda1 part #55110d
  • 3 parts #003b3e1 part #b4271f
  • 3 parts #55110d1 part #003b3e
  • 3 parts #b4271f1 part #55110d
  • 3 parts #ffdfda1 part #b4271f
  • 3 parts #003b3e1 part #ffdfda

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 #55110d, darkened.
  • 30% SurfaceCards, bands, headers. This is where the book's colour lives. From the plate, as is (#55110d).
  • 10% AccentOnly what gets clicked. The plate's #003b3e, lightened.

The roles the plate doesn’t carry

Measured, before and after

  1. On the plate, the best pair of colours reads at 11.4:1: AAA, reads with room to spare.Passes
  2. On screen, the text #f1edec on the background #301d19 gives 13.7:1: AAA, reads with room to spare. APCA gives Lc 94: good for small text, the kind you read a paragraph of.Passes
  3. The accent #437577 stands 3.0:1 from the background (a button needs 3:1) and as a link reaches 4.6:1 (a word needs 4.5:1).Passes
  4. Under deuteranopia, your accent and your background drop to 2.9:1. The button stops standing out: give it a border, change the lightness, or don't rely on colour alone to mark it.Falls short
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

  1. ProportionDistribute, don't equalise: #301d19 on 60% of the screen, #55110d on 30% (cards, bands, headers) and #437577 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.
  2. TextBody text goes in #f1edec, 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 #ffdfda, where size forgives.
  3. The buttonThe accent #437577 stands 3.0:1 apart from the background: it works as a button, with text in #fff4f2.
  4. TemperatureWarm and cool together: let one lead and the other point. Here the background #55110d leads, and the accent #437577 is the first thing the eye will look for.
  5. How manyFour colours demand discipline: #55110d and #f1edec 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, by day

The same colour, by day.

The palette is born dark; this is its light version. The background is not pure white: it carries a little of its hue, just as the dark one was not black.

A button

Take it with you

/* Monochrome with accent — bluenze.com/paletas */
:root {
  --fondo: #301d19;
  --superficie: #55110d;
  --texto: #f1edec;
  --tinta: #f1edec;
  --texto-suave: #b4afaf;
  --titular: #ffdfda;
  --acento: #437577;
  --acento-texto: #fff4f2;
  --enlace: #629396;
  --borde: #59413d;
  --apoyo-1: #b4271f;

  /* la lámina, tal cual */
  --lamina-1: #55110d;
  --lamina-2: #b4271f;
  --lamina-3: #ffdfda;
  --lamina-4: #003b3e;

  --acento-50: #f0f8f8;
  --acento-100: #e0eeee;
  --acento-200: #c5dcdc;
  --acento-300: #a3c4c5;
  --acento-400: #80abac;
  --acento-500: #5f9193;
  --acento-600: #437577;
  --acento-700: #335e60;
  --acento-800: #234547;
  --acento-900: #132e2f;
  --neutro-50: #f5f7f7;
  --neutro-100: #e8ecec;
  --neutro-200: #d2d8d9;
  --neutro-300: #b7c0c0;
  --neutro-400: #9aa5a6;
  --neutro-500: #7e8b8c;
  --neutro-600: #657272;
  --neutro-700: #4e5959;
  --neutro-800: #394142;
  --neutro-900: #252b2b;

  --boton: #437577;
  --boton-encima: #558789;
  --boton-pulsado: #729799;
  --boton-apagado: #343a3a;
  --foco: #00797d;

  --exito: #83b87e;
  --aviso: #cbb570;
  --error: #ea9582;
  --info: #7daef0;
}

@media (prefers-color-scheme: light) {
  :root {
    --fondo: #eff7f7;
    --superficie: #dfeaeb;
    --borde: #c6d4d5;
    --texto: #1f2525;
    --tinta: #1f2525;
    --texto-suave: #5d6565;
    --acento: #437577;
    --acento-texto: #f2f7f7;
  }
}
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 active side of the circle: the colours that advance, warm and push outward.

  • Surface · red

    Red at full surface leaves room for nothing else. It is the colour of gravity and dignity, and in a background that reads as constant weight. § 790

  • Accent · 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

  • Heading · red

    Red is the high point of the active side. In a small patch it does exactly what an accent is for: stopping the eye once. § 793

How each pair readsZur Farbenlehre · 1810

How each pair reads on the circle

  • Same sector #55110d · #b4271f

    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 #55110d · #ffdfda

    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.

  • Opposite #55110d · #003b3e

    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.

  • Same sector #b4271f · #ffdfda

    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.

  • Opposite #b4271f · #003b3e

    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.

  • Opposite #ffdfda · #003b3e

    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.

Index · 114 combinationsHaishoku Sōkan · 1933

Wada's combinations with red.

Here are the 24 with the most colours out of the 114 that use some red. The rest are in the dictionary.

All the dictionary combinations →Go to the tool →

The other elevenColours that go with…

The other colours

And if your colour is another one.

All twelve families on one plate →

Combinations based on Sanzō Wada's system (Haishoku Sōkan, 1933-34; Seigensha selection, 2010). Colour values are checked against that edition; the Spanish names, each combination's character and the explanations are ours.

Colophon

Colour is where it starts, not the whole job

If it is for your brand, this is what we do: custom websites that start with colour and end in code.

Custom web design →And your current site? See if they can find you →