Brown
Pinkish Cinnamon
Helvetia Blue

No. 161

3-color combination

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Colors

Brown

HEX
RGB
CMYK

Combination No. 161 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.

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Combination No. 161 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 contrastPinkish Cinnamon · 4.3:1

Harmony in contrastBrown · 4.3:1

Harmony in contrastHelvetia Blue · 4.0:1

Harmony in contrastPinkish Cinnamon · 4.0:1

Analysis

Character

Medium & moderate

Lightness 57 (range 45–81)
Colorfulness 0.098

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

Harmony

Color wheel with the combination’s hues; distance from the center shows colorfulnessBrownPinkish CinnamonHelvetia Blue

Split-complementary

One hue plus the two hues either side of its complement.

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

  • BrownWarm
  • Pinkish CinnamonWarm
  • Helvetia BlueCool

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

Distinctness

ΔE 39

Closest pair ΔE 38.7 · average ΔE 44.7

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

Contrast

AaBest text pair: Pinkish Cinnamon on Brown (4.3:1)

ContrastWCAGAPCA Lc
AaAaBrown · Pinkish Cinnamon4.3:1AA large51 / 52
AaAaBrown · Helvetia Blue1.1:1Low0 / 0
AaAaPinkish Cinnamon · Helvetia Blue4.0:1AA large50 / 48

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. 161 */
:root {
  --brown: #7c4226; /* Brown */
  --pinkish-cinnamon: #eeb480; /* Pinkish Cinnamon */
  --helvetia-blue: #005b8d; /* Helvetia Blue */
}

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