Sulphur Yellow
Yellow Orange
Vanderpoel's Blue

No. 151

3-color combination

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Colors

Combination No. 151 in use

The palette applied to simple layouts. Colors are assigned to roles automatically; try other arrangements.

Color study

A dictionary of color

Background, surface, text and accent, taken from one of Wada’s combinations.

ExploreLearn more

Combination No. 151 as a living room

Painted following the 60-30-10 rule: about 60% wall color, 30% for the sofa, 10% for cushions, throw and vase. A fourth color goes to the rug and curtains; otherwise they stay undyed. Floor and ceiling stay neutral; the print shows the whole palette.

Readable text pairs

Harmony in contrastVanderpoel's Blue · 7.5:1

Harmony in contrastVanderpoel's Blue · 4.2:1

Harmony in contrastSulphur Yellow · 7.5:1

Harmony in contrastYellow Orange · 4.2:1

Analysis

Character

Medium & moderate

Lightness 71 (range 40–94)
Colorfulness 0.101

Average OKLCH lightness (0–100) and chroma (colorfulness).

Harmony

Color wheel with the combination’s hues; distance from the center shows colorfulnessSulphur YellowYellow OrangeVanderpoel's Blue

Complementary

Includes hues from opposite sides of the color wheel.

A heuristic based on the painter’s color wheel. Wada’s combinations often ignore textbook rules, which is part of their appeal.

Temperature

Warm & cool

  • Sulphur YellowWarm
  • Yellow OrangeWarm
  • Vanderpoel's BlueCool

Reds, oranges and yellows count as warm; greens, blues and violets as cool.

Distinctness

ΔE 26

Closest pair ΔE 26.3 · average ΔE 49.7

CIEDE2000 color difference. Below about 10 colors look related; above 30 they are clearly distinct.

Contrast

AaBest text pair: Sulphur Yellow on Vanderpoel's Blue (7.5:1)

ContrastWCAGAPCA Lc
AaAaSulphur Yellow · Yellow Orange1.8:1Low33 / 30
AaAaSulphur Yellow · Vanderpoel's Blue7.5:1AAA82 / 78
AaAaYellow Orange · Vanderpoel's Blue4.2:1AA large48 / 47

WCAG 2 contrast ratio for text, and APCA lightness contrast (Lc) for each text/background direction.

Similar combinations

The closest palettes in perceptual color space (OKLab).

Export

Copy the palette as code or download it as an image.

/* Sanzo Wada, combination No. 151 */
:root {
  --sulphur-yellow: #f5ecc2; /* Sulphur Yellow */
  --yellow-orange: #f99d1b; /* Yellow Orange */
  --vanderpoels-blue: #064f6e; /* Vanderpoel's Blue */
}

More combinations with Sulphur Yellow

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