Carmine
Helvetia Blue

No. 39

2-color combination

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Colors

Carmine

HEX
RGB
CMYK

Combination No. 39 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. 39 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 & vivid

Lightness 50 (range 45–54)
Colorfulness 0.159

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

Harmony

Color wheel with the combination’s hues; distance from the center shows colorfulnessCarmineHelvetia 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

  • CarmineWarm
  • Helvetia BlueCool

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

Distinctness

ΔE 47

Closest pair ΔE 47.1 · average ΔE 47.1

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

Contrast

AaBest text pair: Carmine on Helvetia Blue (1.3:1)

ContrastWCAGAPCA Lc
AaAaCarmine · Helvetia Blue1.3:1Low7 / 0

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. 39 */
:root {
  --carmine: #cc1236; /* Carmine */
  --helvetia-blue: #005b8d; /* Helvetia Blue */
}

More combinations with Carmine

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