The colour covering most of nearly any website and the one least often chosen. That's a mistake: there are many whites and they are not the same.
What goes with white
Pure white is rare outside a laboratory. Paper is cream, limewash is bluish, unbleached cotton is yellowish. Screens are no different: #ffffff is the default, not a decision, and a white with a touch of your brand's hue makes everything else look like it came from the same place.
Everything goes with white, so the work is deciding what doesn't: against a cool white, muted warm colours look dirty; against a warm white, very saturated blues look electric. Choose the temperature of the white first and the rest of the palette after, not the other way round — which is the order almost nobody follows.
One practical note: if your background is pure white, pure black text gives a 21:1 contrast that is technically perfect and, across a long paragraph, harsh. Drop the black to a very dark grey or lift the white to a bone. It reads just as well and tires less, which is what decides whether anyone finishes reading you.
Five to start with
Five palettes with white, 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.
01/05
From Wada's dictionary, 1933
Wada combination 139
It contains a colour very close to yours (Neutral Gray) and has been in use for almost a century. The original colours are called Salvia Blue · Deep Indigo · Neutral Gray.
The plate, as printed
3 colours in equal parts, as in the book. It is the inspiration, not the interface. Click one to copy it.
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.
On a website
Book a slot
New
This is your colour 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.
Book a slot
A card
Secondary surfaces use the support colour. If it doesn't separate from the background, the hierarchy is gone.
And the footer, which nobody looks at until it looks wrong.
Measured, before and after
On the plate, the best pair of colours reads at 12.0:1: AAA, reads with room to spare.
On screen, the text #23232a on the background #e7f9f5 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.
The accent #658fb4 stands 3.1:1 from the background (a button needs 3:1) and as a link reaches 4.8:1 (a word needs 4.5:1).
How to use it
*
Proportion
Distribute, don't equalise: #e7f9f5 on 60% of the screen, #b5d1cc on 30% (cards, bands, headers) and #658fb4 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.
*
Text
Body text goes in #23232a, 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 #000831, where size forgives.
*
The button
The accent #658fb4 stands 3.1:1 apart from the background: it works as a button, with text in #23232a.
*
Temperature
All 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 many
Three 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 dictionary
In 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.
Goethe's reading
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 · 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
How each pair reads on the circle
Same sector
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
Next to white, a colour from the passive side gains in liveliness. § 831
With a neutral
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.
The kit for building itNine tints, states, alerts and dark mode
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.
Nine tints of the accent
50#f1f7fe
100#e2ecf8
200#c8d9ec
300#a8c1db
400#84a7c8
500#658fb4
600#4a7396
700#355b79
800#24435b
900#142c3e
Greys, tinted with your hue
50#f5f6f8
100#e9ebed
200#d4d7db
300#babfc4
400#9ea4ab
500#838a91
600#6a7077
700#52585e
800#3c4045
900#272a2e
Button states
Normal#658fb4
Hover#527da1
Pressed#496b88
Disabled#ccd1d8
Focus#2092d3
Success, warning, error and info
Success#457942
Warning#9e8b48
Error#a45747
Info#3670ac
And in dark
The same colour, at night.
The background isn't pure black: it carries a little of your hue. That's what separates a designed dark mode from one that looks like a fault.
It contains a colour very close to yours (Neutral Gray) and has been in use for almost a century. The original colours are called Cinnamon Buff · Light Mauve · Neutral Gray.
The plate, as printed
3 colours in equal parts, as in the book. It is the inspiration, not the interface. Click one to copy it.
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.
On a website
Book a slot
New
This is your colour 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.
Book a slot
A card
Secondary surfaces use the support colour. If it doesn't separate from the background, the hierarchy is gone.
And the footer, which nobody looks at until it looks wrong.
Measured, before and after
On the plate, the best pair of colours reads at 2.5:1: does not read.
On screen, the text #26222c on the background #e7f9f5 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.
The accent #b77f31 stands 3.2:1 from the background (a button needs 3:1) and as a link reaches 4.8:1 (a word needs 4.5:1).
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.
How to use it
*
Proportion
Distribute, don't equalise: #e7f9f5 on 60% of the screen, #b5d1cc on 30% (cards, bands, headers) and #b77f31 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.
*
Text
No pair on the plate read as text (the best gave 2.5:1). That is why body text goes in #26222c, a near-neutral ink tinted with the palette's hue: it is not in the book, and it is needed.
*
The button
The accent #b77f31 stands 3.2:1 apart from the background: it works as a button, with text in #26222c.
*
Temperature
Warm and cool together: let one lead and the other point. Here the background #b5d1cc leads, and the accent #b77f31 is the first thing the eye will look for.
*
How many
Three 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 dictionary
In 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.
Goethe's reading
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.
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
How each pair reads on the circle
Characteristic
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.
With a neutral
Next to white, a colour from the active side loses force. § 831
With a neutral
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.
The kit for building itNine tints, states, alerts and dark mode
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.
Nine tints of the accent
50#fff5ea
100#fee7d1
200#f4d1ad
300#e3b683
400#ce9957
500#b77f31
600#986518
700#794e08
800#5b3901
900#3c2500
Greys, tinted with your hue
50#f7f6f5
100#edebe8
200#dad7d3
300#c3bdb8
400#a9a29c
500#8f8881
600#756e68
700#5c5650
800#443f3a
900#2d2926
Button states
Normal#b77f31
Hover#a36d1f
Pressed#8c5d16
Disabled#dbcec2
Focus#bf7c00
Success, warning, error and info
Success#307c32
Warning#a18a2c
Error#b34d3a
Info#1170b8
And in dark
The same colour, at night.
The background isn't pure black: it carries a little of your hue. That's what separates a designed dark mode from one that looks like a fault.
Your colour 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 plate, as printed
The colours the rule gives, raw and in equal parts. It is the starting point, not the interface. Click one to copy it.
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.
On a website
Book a slot
New
This is your colour 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.
Book a slot
A card
Secondary surfaces use the support colour. If it doesn't separate from the background, the hierarchy is gone.
And the footer, which nobody looks at until it looks wrong.
Measured, before and after
On the plate, the best pair of colours reads at 3.4:1: only good for large text.
On screen, the text #22232a on the background #f5f5f5 gives 14.4:1: AAA, reads with room to spare. APCA gives Lc 97: good for small text, the kind you read a paragraph of.
The accent #8f8d84 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).
How to use it
*
Proportion
Distribute, don't equalise: #f5f5f5 on 60% of the screen, #ffffff on 30% (cards, bands, headers) and #8f8d84 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.
*
Text
No pair on the plate read as text (the best gave 3.4:1). That is why body text goes in #22232a, a near-neutral ink tinted with the palette's hue: it is not in the book, and it is needed.
*
The button
The accent #8f8d84 stands 3.1:1 apart from the background: it works as a button, with text in #22232a.
*
Temperature
All 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 many
Four colours demand discipline: #ffffff and #5c6d9a are the base, the other two are detail. If in doubt, drop the support colour before the accent.
Goethe's reading
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.
Heading · 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
How each pair reads on the circle
With a neutral
A neutral with a colour that has no side on the circle. Goethe has nothing to say here. § 831
With a neutral
A neutral with a colour that has no side on the circle. Goethe has nothing to say here. § 831
With a neutral
Next to white, a colour from the passive side gains in liveliness. § 831
With a neutral
A neutral with a colour that has no side on the circle. Goethe has nothing to say here. § 831
With a neutral
Next to white, a colour from the passive side gains in liveliness. § 831
With a neutral
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.
The kit for building itNine tints, states, alerts and dark mode
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.
Nine tints of the accent
50#f7f6f5
100#ecebe8
200#d8d7d3
300#c0beb8
400#a5a39b
500#8f8d84
600#717067
700#595750
800#41403a
900#2b2a26
Greys, tinted with your hue
50#f7f6f5
100#ecebe8
200#d8d7d3
300#c0beb8
400#a5a39b
500#8b8980
600#717067
700#595750
800#41403a
900#2b2a26
Button states
Normal#8f8d84
Hover#7d7b72
Pressed#6a6968
Disabled#d3d3d1
Focus#948e65
Success, warning, error and info
Success#457942
Warning#9e8b48
Error#a45747
Info#3670ac
And in dark
The same colour, at night.
The background isn't pure black: it carries a little of your hue. That's what separates a designed dark mode from one that looks like a fault.
Your colour 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 plate, as printed
The colours the rule gives, raw and in equal parts. It is the starting point, not the interface. Click one to copy it.
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.
On a website
Book a slot
New
This is your colour 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.
Book a slot
A card
Secondary surfaces use the support colour. If it doesn't separate from the background, the hierarchy is gone.
And the footer, which nobody looks at until it looks wrong.
Measured, before and after
On the plate, the best pair of colours reads at 1.2:1: does not read.
On screen, the text #252323 on the background #f5f5f5 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.
The accent #8f8d84 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).
How to use it
*
Proportion
Distribute, don't equalise: #f5f5f5 on 60% of the screen, #ffffff on 30% (cards, bands, headers) and #8f8d84 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.
*
Text
No pair on the plate read as text (the best gave 1.2:1). That is why body text goes in #252323, a near-neutral ink tinted with the palette's hue: it is not in the book, and it is needed.
*
The button
The accent #8f8d84 stands 3.1:1 apart from the background: it works as a button, with text in #252323.
*
Temperature
All neutral: the brand will be recognised by its type and its spacing, not its colour. If you need a call-out, bring in a single accent from outside and don't scatter it.
*
How many
Four colours demand discipline: #ffffff and #766e6b are the base, the other two are detail. If in doubt, drop the support colour before the accent.
Goethe's reading
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 stays at rest: it neither advances nor recedes. Restful, but it points at nothing on its own.
How each pair reads on the circle
With a neutral
A neutral with a colour that has no side on the circle. Goethe has nothing to say here. § 831
With a neutral
A neutral with a colour that has no side on the circle. Goethe has nothing to say here. § 831
With a neutral
A neutral with a colour that has no side on the circle. Goethe has nothing to say here. § 831
With a neutral
A neutral with a colour that has no side on the circle. Goethe has nothing to say here. § 831
With a neutral
A neutral with a colour that has no side on the circle. Goethe has nothing to say here. § 831
With a neutral
A neutral with a colour that has no side on the circle. Goethe has nothing to say here. § 831
What is happening to this palette
Every colour below the point where a colour asserts itself. It is the opposite failure to motley, and Goethe puts it down to fear: for want of going too far, nothing gets said. § 894
There are 7 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
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.
The kit for building itNine tints, states, alerts and dark mode
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.
Nine tints of the accent
50#f7f6f5
100#ecebe8
200#d8d7d3
300#c0beb8
400#a5a39b
500#8f8d84
600#717067
700#595750
800#41403a
900#2b2a26
Greys, tinted with your hue
50#f7f6f5
100#ecebe8
200#d8d7d3
300#c0beb8
400#a5a39b
500#8b8980
600#717067
700#595750
800#41403a
900#2b2a26
Button states
Normal#8f8d84
Hover#7d7b72
Pressed#6a6968
Disabled#d3d3d1
Focus#948e65
Success, warning, error and info
Success#457942
Warning#9e8b48
Error#a45747
Info#3670ac
And in dark
The same colour, at night.
The background isn't pure black: it carries a little of your hue. That's what separates a designed dark mode from one that looks like a fault.
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 plate, as printed
The colours the rule gives, raw and in equal parts. It is the starting point, not the interface. Click one to copy it.
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.
On a website
Book a slot
New
This is your colour 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.
Book a slot
A card
Secondary surfaces use the support colour. If it doesn't separate from the background, the hierarchy is gone.
And the footer, which nobody looks at until it looks wrong.
Measured, before and after
On the plate, the best pair of colours reads at 2.2:1: does not read.
On screen, the text #26231d on the background #f5f5f5 gives 14.4:1: AAA, reads with room to spare. APCA gives Lc 97: good for small text, the kind you read a paragraph of.
The accent #888b96 stands 3.1:1 from the background (a button needs 3:1) and as a link reaches 4.8:1 (a word needs 4.5:1).
How to use it
*
Proportion
Distribute, don't equalise: #f5f5f5 on 60% of the screen, #ffffff on 30% (cards, bands, headers) and #888b96 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.
*
Text
No pair on the plate read as text (the best gave 2.2:1). That is why body text goes in #26231d, a near-neutral ink tinted with the palette's hue: it is not in the book, and it is needed.
*
The button
The accent #888b96 stands 3.1:1 apart from the background: it works as a button, with text in #26231d.
*
Temperature
All 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.
*
How many
Four colours demand discipline: #ffffff and #786c41 are the base, the other two are detail. If in doubt, drop the support colour before the accent.
Goethe's reading
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.
Heading · 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
How each pair reads on the circle
With a neutral
Next to white, a colour from the active side loses force. § 831
With a neutral
Next to white, a colour from the active side loses force. § 831
With a neutral
Next to white, a colour from the active side loses force. § 831
With a neutral
A neutral with a colour that has no side on the circle. Goethe has nothing to say here. § 831
With a neutral
A neutral with a colour that has no side on the circle. Goethe has nothing to say here. § 831
With a neutral
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.
The kit for building itNine tints, states, alerts and dark mode
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.
Nine tints of the accent
50#f6f6f8
100#eaebee
200#d6d7dc
300#bcbec6
400#a0a3ad
500#888b96
600#6c6f7a
700#545760
800#3e4047
900#282a2f
Greys, tinted with your hue
50#f6f6f8
100#eaebed
200#d6d7db
300#bcbec4
400#a1a3ab
500#868991
600#6d6f77
700#55575e
800#3e4045
900#292a2e
Button states
Normal#888b96
Hover#767984
Pressed#67686c
Disabled#d1d1d3
Focus#7b8bb5
Success, warning, error and info
Success#457942
Warning#9e8b48
Error#a45747
Info#3670ac
And in dark
The same colour, at night.
The background isn't pure black: it carries a little of your hue. That's what separates a designed dark mode from one that looks like a fault.
In 1933 a Japanese painter and costume designer, Sanzō Wada, published a dictionary of colour combinations: 348 palettes meant for dyers, weavers and designers, drawn from years of working with real colour rather than a wheel. Almost a century later it still sits on the desk of many studios, ours included. We read it cover to cover, checked every value against the original and gave its 158 colours a name in Spanish.
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.
If it is for your brand, this is what we do: custom websites that start with colour and end in code.
