Carmine
- 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.
Dark & vivid
Lightness 50 (range 45–54)
Colorfulness 0.159
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 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.
AaBest text pair: Carmine on Helvetia Blue (1.3:1)
| Contrast | WCAG | APCA Lc |
|---|---|---|
| AaAaCarmine · Helvetia Blue | 1.3:1Low | 7 / 0 |
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. 39 */
:root {
--carmine: #cc1236; /* Carmine */
--helvetia-blue: #005b8d; /* Helvetia Blue */
}
/* Tailwind CSS v4 – Sanzo Wada, combination No. 39 */
@theme {
--color-carmine: #cc1236;
--color-helvetia-blue: #005b8d;
}
{
"id": 39,
"source": "Sanzo Wada, A Dictionary of Color Combinations",
"colors": [
{
"name": "Carmine",
"hex": "#cc1236",
"rgb": [
204,
18,
54
],
"cmyk": [
0,
100,
75,
16
]
},
{
"name": "Helvetia Blue",
"hex": "#005b8d",
"rgb": [
0,
91,
141
],
"cmyk": [
100,
62,
19,
10
]
}
]
}