Carmine
Yellow
Blue

No. 154

3-color combination

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Colors

Carmine

HEX
RGB
CMYK

Yellow

HEX
RGB
CMYK

Blue

HEX
RGB
CMYK

Combination No. 154 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. 154 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 contrastYellow · 4.8:1

Harmony in contrastCarmine · 4.8:1

Harmony in contrastBlue · 4.6:1

Harmony in contrastYellow · 4.6:1

Analysis

Character

Medium & vivid

Lightness 67 (range 53–94)
Colorfulness 0.184

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

Harmony

Color wheel with the combination’s hues; distance from the center shows colorfulnessCarmineYellowBlue

Triadic

Three hues evenly spaced around the 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

  • CarmineWarm
  • YellowWarm
  • BlueCool

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

Distinctness

ΔE 47

Closest pair ΔE 46.5 · average ΔE 64.2

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

Contrast

AaBest text pair: Yellow on Carmine (4.8:1)

ContrastWCAGAPCA Lc
AaAaCarmine · Yellow4.8:1AA66 / 70
AaAaCarmine · Blue1.1:1Low0 / 0
AaAaYellow · Blue4.6:1AA70 / 66

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. 154 */
:root {
  --carmine: #cc1236; /* Carmine */
  --yellow: #fff200; /* Yellow */
  --blue: #006eb8; /* Blue */
}

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