Color3Still being filled in
Palettes, colour systems and the relationships between hues.
PalettesSystemsRelationshipsGrounds
Elements
3 · 2 described · 0 with a specimen
specimen pending
Pastel palette
Adopting this means every hue in the palette is a tint: a recognisable hue mixed with enough white that its lightness is high and its perceived intensity is low, without losing which hue it is. Several tints sit together without one dominating, because near-equal lightness removes the usual contrast hierarchy — so hierarchy must be carried by something else, and text contrast must come from a dark ink or a saturated accent outside the pastel set rather than from within it. Two boundaries matter: a pastel keeps its hue, so a near-achromatic off-white is not one; and a pastel is light, so a greyed mid-tone is a muted colour, not a pastel.
In Vaporwave, Kawaii, Coquette, Cottagecore, Memphis, Y2K
specimen pending
Aurora / Gradient Mesh
Adopting this means treating the background as diffuse coloured light rather than as a surface. Several low-saturation hues are placed as large soft blooms, usually anchored off the edge of the canvas so no source is visible, and blurred until the transitions between them have no discernible edge. Content sits over it at full opacity and must not depend on it for contrast. It is a look, not a rendering technique: a mesh interpolation produces it, and so do overlaid blurred radial gradients, and the visual result is what the module asserts. Two to four hues is typical; more reads as muddy.
In Modern SaaS
Also in Surfaces
specimen pending
Dark Mode First
Not yet described.
Palettes
71 of 73 Aesthetic pages have three or more colours · As built — not research claims
#F6F3EC #D8D4CA #C22D41 #4A4640 #111111 #B9B4A8 #8D8A84 #FFFFFF
Manga8
#F7F5F0 #1C1C1A #6F6C66 #D9D5CC #EEEBE3
Japanese Minimalism5
#FDF9F0 #191512 #A8E6CE #FF7B6B #FFD94A #2456E6 #E33F2E #FFF7EA #FFFFFF
Memphis9
#FDFDFB #141412 #4A4A45 #C9C9C2 #3A3A36 #0C0C0B #F4F4F0 #8E8E88 #2A2A27
Editorial Modernism9
#C0C0C0 #1A1A2E #FDF6A8 #C3A6FF #3A1BD1 #000080 #4A4560 #5A1D8C #FF71CE
Vaporwave9
#53E08C #3DBA72 #2E9B5E #060A07 #0A120C #16321F #8CFFB6
Terminal7
#F2E9D8 #10312B #C8A24B #0B2622 #CBC2AE #8F7A45 #5E4C1F #6B6450
Art Deco8
#5B6270 #F7F7F8 #0F1115 #F5A524 #C9CCD3 #FFFFFF #E6E7EB #1A1204 #E8981A
Modern SaaS9
#141014 #FFF4DC #F4B400 #FF6B4A #D1167A #0E7C5A #1E3FAF #5B2A86 #FFFFFF
Maximalism9
#16355F #1B3D6D #EAF1FB
Blueprint3
#F84F33 #00AAB4 #CD3EC6 #3E9F24 #FFF4DE #2A1330
Psychedelic6
#C9CDD2 #E3E6E9 #16191D #464C54 #7B828B #2A4A9B #EDEFF1
Dystopian Bureaucratic7
#FFFFFF #1C1712 #8C2A21 #5A4E40
Victorian4
#000000 #FF0000 #00FF00 #FFFF00 #0000FF #FF00FF #00FFFF #FFFFFF #1A1A1A
Teletext9
#1D2340 #F4F5FB #454C74 #4F56A0 #3B3FD8 #C8D0E6 #6C79A3 #E8EBF6 #C9CFE6
Y2K9
#B8B8B8 #B4B4B4 #CFCFCF #999999 #000000 #808080 #FFFFFF #B00000 #E8C400
Web 1.09
#F2EFE4 #2E2A20 #6A6350 #A5764C #B03A2E #D8D2BE #F7F5EC #C99A2E #7D5533
Cartographic9
#16323E #F6EEDD #2FA8A0 #E8604C #F2C230 #22303A #FF7A5C #FFFDF6 #B8412F
Googie9
#FCFCFA #1E2226 #555C63 #C9CDD1 #2C6E8A #A33B2E
Scientific6
#E4202C #FFE01B #0B5FB0 #000000 #FFFFFF #FFD5CF #CFE3FF #F3A712
Pop Art8
#E9E0C8 #F1EAD6 #2A241A #5C5138 #A89A78 #7A3B2E #2E4470
Archival7
#D7262B #1D3F9A #F6C700 #FFFFFF #111111
Mod5
#009688 #F4762E #22364A #F7C948 #F5F6F4 #1D2A36 #FFFFFF #53606C #00695F
Flat Design9
#FFF4E0 #000000 #FF90E8 #FFC900 #7BF1A8 #90A8ED #FF7A45 #FFFFFF #BFD9C9
Neo-Brutalism9
#060608 #29D9D9 #E24AC4 #F2D22E #E23D28 #35D948 #EDEDF2 #101018 #8A8A9C
Arcade9
#7A4A12 #5C370C #1F3E8C #F4EFE2 #2B2416 #9A8B6A #6A5E44 #FBF7EC #EEF0F6
Apothecary9
#14213A #0E1830 #EFE8D8 #B08D3E #C9C2B0 #A79F8C #C96A5A #1A1608 #E3988A
Heritage9
#FFFFFF #000000 #0000EE #551A8B
Web Brutalism4
#E8641B #B8480C #22262B #5C636B #A9B0B8 #FFFFFF #F4F6F8 #DDE2E7
Engineering Drawing8
#15343D #F4E3BE #F2C572 #F6D48E #FBEAC0 #7FA7A8 #1E5C6B #2F7584 #D9603F
Travel Poster9
#E8D6A8 #1D2340 #D2382B #9E2418 #CDB98A
Pulp5
#F2EAD8 #2A2620 #2F5D50 #B08D4A #B4737A #55503F #5E5647 #8A4650 #EADFC6
Art Nouveau9
#39FF14 #FF1AC6 #050505 #C8D2DC #E8E8E8 #2BD40C #20A808 #178006 #0F5A04
Acid Graphics9
#F3EAD7 #D19A3A #2E7F7A #E2B33C #B5562B #2B2622 #256A66 #9C4520 #5E5445
Mid-Century Modern9
#F0E4C8 #A8231B #C8921E #211A10 #EAD9B0 #6B5A38 #7C1912 #8F6612 #FFF6C9
Circus9
#D8CDB6 #C9BDA4 #E4DAC6 #4A4234 #1A1408 #F5A623 #8A5E14 #8A7D62 #6BFF8A
Cassette Futurism9
#0A0A0C #D8D5CC #8A8D96 #6E1420 #6E727C #26262C
Heavy Metal6
#F5C400 #43474D #3A3D42 #5A5F66 #E8EAEC #FFFFFF #C4C8CD #111214 #5B6068
Industrial9
#111111 #F2F0EA #FFD500 #B8006A #5E5C57 #E6007E #009BD1 #FFFFFF
New Wave Typography8
#14100C #C9A24B #EFD48A #EFE6D2 #4A1F2E #B9AE96 #BDB49F #B08D3E #3A3226
Neo-Baroque9
#9A4318 #56641F #C99A2E #4A2E1C #EFE2C4
Seventies Revival5
#FAF3EC #F3DFD8 #EFD5CE #E8C4BC #6B4A44 #755049 #DFB3AA #F6DCD5 #D7A79E
Coquette9
#F4E8DA #EED9C4 #E4C29A #C98F52 #A5563F #6E4438 #4A2E22 #F0DCCF #3A2219
Desert9
#1C1030 #130A22 #2A1848 #241438 #C9A64E #EADBB0 #B9A9CF #EDE4D3 #FFFFFF
Occult9
#F4ECD8 #1D1D1B #E4007C #00A19A #FFC20E #EC5F24 #D9CFB6 #B9AE94
Mexican Graphic Vernacular8
#0B0A08 #171512 #C9A227 #8C7326 #EFE6D0 #F4E9C0 #E3C766 #9C7B22 #2F2A1F
Golden Era Hip-Hop9
#FFFFFF #0A0A0A #6E6E6E
Streetwear3
#CDB991 #E6D5B2 #EFE3C7 #2A1D14 #4E3A2A #8E3B1F #5C2410 #7A4526 #6A3A1F
Western9
#201612 #33251A #2A1E16 #E4D5BE #A08D77 #93392F #D0785F
Dark Academia7
#F2EEE3 #191813 #514D42 #A11A1A #B9B2A0 #EFEAE0 #D9D3C3
Broadsheet7
#F6E7C8 #261508 #4B2A12 #C89042 #31190B #EFC05A #D9A33C #B98CE0 #7FA7F2
Disco9
#0B0A08 #C8A24B #E8D9A8 #F0E4BC #8A7440 #070606
Gilded6
#17141B #1F3E9E #D6FF3F #F4EFE2 #FF3DA6 #C7D0FF #EFEDF3 #0B0D12 #5B5563
Anti-Design9
#2F2B27 #F5F1EA #FBF8F3 #ECE5D9 #5E574F #EEF1F4 #6B5237 #C9A27C #B48A63
Scandinavian Minimalism9
#F7E9FF #120725 #CDB8EE #2DE2E6 #FF5FD9 #FF8A3D #0C0420 #3A0F5E #FF2BD6
Synthwave9
#443228 #F6ECDC #FBF4E7 #6B5138 #8C4A26 #EDD6A8 #5C4434 #F0DFC6 #E9DECB
Storybook9
#05070A #DCE3EC #9AA7B8 #46F3FF #FFB84D #FF3FA4 #0C1016 #070A10 #0B0F18
Cyberpunk9
#EFE8DA #412A1B #57391F #CFC5B2 #33302A #EAE3D1 #5C554A #CFBE9E #EAE6DC
Rustic9
#F0348B #3F3347 #FFF6F9 #6B5D72 #FFE3EE #E0F5EA #FFF2CE #ECE6FB #DFF1FB
Kawaii9
#1E2430 #FBF9F3 #1B4B9B #FFFFFF #B4552F #A04A27 #F2D23C #6FB3E8 #B9DCF5
Mediterranean9
#C7AE8B #2E2114 #F6F1E3 #23303B #EFE9DC #1F1D1A #FFFFFF #14161A #5A524A
Scrapbook9
#B3A78A #E7E0CC #9C8F6F #453F2E #F1ECDD #5F5945 #DDE1E6 #15171C #ABA083
Southern Gothic9
#443B31 #FBF7EF #E1C7C6 #DAB9BB #F7F0E3 #8A555C #54664D #5E5348
Cottagecore8
#F4EDDF #232930 #4A525B #155263 #5A646E #6E7883 #EDE3CE #EDF1F3 #B9C1C8
Streamline Moderne9
#24391B #FBF5E4 #F2E8CC #3F5429 #7C5F17 #2C4A1E #F6E9C8 #12151C #4A7434
Solarpunk9
#0B0C0E #111316 #171A1E #1E2227 #252A30 #353B43 #E6E9ED #B4BBC4 #8B939E
Developer Dark9
#EDE8E0 #E4DDD1 #F4F0E8 #121212 #5B574F #CFC8BC #D8462B #F06A45 #C8932A
Fashion Editorial9
#FFFFFF #000000 #3B3B3B #5E5E5E #0000EE #551A8B #C0C0C0 #808080 #D4D0C8
Internetcore9
#E3E5E1 #F4F5F2 #101214 #454A4D #666B6E #A7ABA6 #8B3A1C #2230B0 #2F6B3A
Retrofuturism9
#ECE6DA #F4F0E8 #F7F4EE #1A1916 #4A4740 #C9C1B2 #121210 #B8B2A6 #2E5E4E
Bauhaus9
#6F6354 #EADFCF #DDD0BC #555555 #E4E4E4 #9B8D7A #C9BBA6 #222222 #BBBBBB
Quiet Luxury9
Relationships
Planned
Complementary, analogous, tint systems, phosphor-on-black…
A relationship is a claim about how colours behave together, so it needs research, not a colour picker. Pastel palette is the one colour Element with that research today.
Where colour carries the look
36 Aesthetics · hover to play
Memphis
Vaporwave
Terminal
Art Deco
Modern SaaS
Maximalism
Blueprint
Psychedelic
Teletext
Y2K
Pop Art
Mod
Flat Design
Neo-Brutalism
Pulp
Acid Graphics
Cassette Futurism
Industrial
Neo-Baroque
Seventies Revival
Coquette
Desert
Occult
Disco
Gilded
Scandinavian Minimalism
Synthwave
Cyberpunk
Rustic
Kawaii
Mediterranean
Southern Gothic
Cottagecore
Solarpunk
Developer Dark
Quiet Luxury
Wanted
Still being filled in
- pale neutralNeeded by Scandinavian Minimalism
A color module for a high-lightness, low-chroma, warm-biased palette.
- saturatedNeeded by Maximalism
A color module for a high-chroma palette with no dominant neutral.
- pastel plus primaryNeeded by Memphis
A color module for a palette deliberately mixing pastels with saturated primaries.
- jewel plus metallicNeeded by Art Deco
A color module pairing saturated jewel tones with metallic golds and bronzes.
- pastel metallicNeeded by Y2K
A color module for pastel hues carrying a metallic or iridescent finish.
- phosphor on blackNeeded by Terminal
A color module for a single saturated hue (green or amber) on near-black, derived from CRT phosphor displays.