Carmine Red
Violet
Cotinga Purple

No. 181

3-color combination

Use ← and → to browse

Colors

Carmine Red

HEX
RGB
CMYK

Violet

HEX
RGB
CMYK

Combination No. 181 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. 181 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

No pair of colors in this combination reaches a contrast of 3:1, so it is best used without text.

Analysis

Character

Dark & moderate

Lightness 41 (range 31–49)
Colorfulness 0.127

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

Harmony

Color wheel with the combination’s hues; distance from the center shows colorfulnessCarmine RedVioletCotinga Purple

Free

No classic color-wheel relationship.

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

  • Carmine RedWarm
  • VioletCool
  • Cotinga PurpleCool

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

Distinctness

ΔE 17

Closest pair ΔE 17.3 · average ΔE 25.0

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

Contrast

AaBest text pair: Cotinga Purple on Carmine Red (2.0:1)

ContrastWCAGAPCA Lc
AaAaCarmine Red · Violet1.3:1Low0 / 0
AaAaCarmine Red · Cotinga Purple2.0:1Low14 / 15
AaAaViolet · Cotinga Purple1.6:1Low8 / 8

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. 181 */
:root {
  --carmine-red: #a62c37; /* Carmine Red */
  --violet: #4f4086; /* Violet */
  --cotinga-purple: #501345; /* Cotinga Purple */
}

More combinations with Carmine Red

More combinations with Violet

More combinations with Cotinga Purple