Carmine Red
Buffy Citrine
Violet Blue

No. 233

3-color combination

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Colors

Carmine Red

HEX
RGB
CMYK

Violet Blue

HEX
RGB
CMYK

Combination No. 233 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. 233 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

Medium & moderate

Lightness 50 (range 40–62)
Colorfulness 0.100

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

Harmony

Color wheel with the combination’s hues; distance from the center shows colorfulnessCarmine RedBuffy CitrineViolet Blue

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
  • Buffy CitrineWarm
  • Violet BlueCool

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

Distinctness

ΔE 32

Closest pair ΔE 31.9 · average ΔE 39.0

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

Contrast

AaBest text pair: Buffy Citrine on Violet Blue (2.6:1)

ContrastWCAGAPCA Lc
AaAaCarmine Red · Buffy Citrine1.9:1Low17 / 18
AaAaCarmine Red · Violet Blue1.3:1Low0 / 0
AaAaBuffy Citrine · Violet Blue2.6:1Low26 / 26

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. 233 */
:root {
  --carmine-red: #a62c37; /* Carmine Red */
  --buffy-citrine: #96874d; /* Buffy Citrine */
  --violet-blue: #40456a; /* Violet Blue */
}

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