Olive Buff
- 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.
Light & muted
Lightness 76 (range 60–89)
Colorfulness 0.063
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 19
Closest pair ΔE 19.2 · average ΔE 25.8
CIEDE2000 color difference. Below about 10 colors look related; above 30 they are clearly distinct.
AaBest text pair: Nile Blue on Green Blue (2.8:1)
| Contrast | WCAG | APCA Lc |
|---|---|---|
| AaAaOlive Buff · Nile Blue | 1.3:1Low | 14 / 16 |
| AaAaOlive Buff · Salvia Blue | 1.3:1Low | 12 / 10 |
| AaAaOlive Buff · Green Blue | 2.1:1Low | 32 / 29 |
| AaAaNile Blue · Salvia Blue | 1.7:1Low | 28 / 26 |
| AaAaNile Blue · Green Blue | 2.8:1Low | 48 / 45 |
| AaAaSalvia Blue · Green Blue | 1.6:1Low | 19 / 17 |
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. 330 */
:root {
--olive-buff: #c1c494; /* Olive Buff */
--nile-blue: #bce4e5; /* Nile Blue */
--salvia-blue: #97acc8; /* Salvia Blue */
--green-blue: #099197; /* Green Blue */
}
/* Tailwind CSS v4 – Sanzo Wada, combination No. 330 */
@theme {
--color-olive-buff: #c1c494;
--color-nile-blue: #bce4e5;
--color-salvia-blue: #97acc8;
--color-green-blue: #099197;
}
{
"id": 330,
"source": "Sanzo Wada, A Dictionary of Color Combinations",
"colors": [
{
"name": "Olive Buff",
"hex": "#c1c494",
"rgb": [
193,
196,
148
],
"cmyk": [
16,
6,
42,
12
]
},
{
"name": "Nile Blue",
"hex": "#bce4e5",
"rgb": [
188,
228,
229
],
"cmyk": [
25,
0,
10,
0
]
},
{
"name": "Salvia Blue",
"hex": "#97acc8",
"rgb": [
151,
172,
200
],
"cmyk": [
41,
25,
10,
0
]
},
{
"name": "Green Blue",
"hex": "#099197",
"rgb": [
9,
145,
151
],
"cmyk": [
82,
24,
40,
3
]
}
]
}