Spectrum Red
- HEX
- RGB
- CMYK
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.
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.
No pair of colors in this combination reaches a contrast of 3:1, so it is best used without text.
Medium & vivid
Lightness 63 (range 53–81)
Colorfulness 0.161
Average OKLCH lightness (0–100) and chroma (colorfulness).
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.
Warm & cool
Reds, oranges and yellows count as warm; greens, blues and violets as cool.
ΔE 32
Closest pair ΔE 31.7 · average ΔE 45.2
CIEDE2000 color difference. Below about 10 colors look related; above 30 they are clearly distinct.
AaBest text pair: Orange Yellow on Blue (3.0:1)
| Contrast | WCAG | APCA Lc |
|---|---|---|
| AaAaSpectrum Red · Orange Yellow | 2.6:1Low | 35 / 37 |
| AaAaSpectrum Red · Blue | 1.1:1Low | 0 / 0 |
| AaAaSpectrum Red · Aconite Violet | 1.2:1Low | 0 / 0 |
| AaAaOrange Yellow · Blue | 3.0:1Low | 43 / 40 |
| AaAaOrange Yellow · Aconite Violet | 2.3:1Low | 35 / 32 |
| AaAaBlue · Aconite Violet | 1.3:1Low | 0 / 7 |
WCAG 2 contrast ratio for text, and APCA lightness contrast (Lc) for each text/background direction.
The closest palettes in perceptual color space (OKLab).
Copy the palette as code or download it as an image.
/* Sanzo Wada, combination No. 257 */
:root {
--spectrum-red: #e31f26; /* Spectrum Red */
--orange-yellow: #fcb315; /* Orange Yellow */
--blue: #006eb8; /* Blue */
--aconite-violet: #a36aa5; /* Aconite Violet */
}
/* Tailwind CSS v4 – Sanzo Wada, combination No. 257 */
@theme {
--color-spectrum-red: #e31f26;
--color-orange-yellow: #fcb315;
--color-blue: #006eb8;
--color-aconite-violet: #a36aa5;
}
{
"id": 257,
"source": "Sanzo Wada, A Dictionary of Color Combinations",
"colors": [
{
"name": "Spectrum Red",
"hex": "#e31f26",
"rgb": [
227,
31,
38
],
"cmyk": [
5,
100,
100,
0
]
},
{
"name": "Orange Yellow",
"hex": "#fcb315",
"rgb": [
252,
179,
21
],
"cmyk": [
0,
33,
100,
0
]
},
{
"name": "Blue",
"hex": "#006eb8",
"rgb": [
0,
110,
184
],
"cmyk": [
95,
54,
0,
0
]
},
{
"name": "Aconite Violet",
"hex": "#a36aa5",
"rgb": [
163,
106,
165
],
"cmyk": [
39,
68,
5,
0
]
}
]
}