Spectrum Bench

What was measured

Closest neighbours

ΔE00 31.6

how alike two adjacent swatches look

Darkest to lightest

7.52:1

WCAG contrast across the set

Lightness covered

48 pts

of OKLCH lightness, 0–100

Under colour blindness

ΔE00 24.8

worst under deuteranopia

Every pair here survives protanopia, deuteranopia and tritanopia, so these five can stand for five different things.

Five colours are not an interface, so this is an offer rather than a token set. It does not clear WCAG AA on secondary text and the accent — stated here rather than left for you to discover.

/* Spectrum Bench — Scientific plots that need maximum separation across a wide set. */
:root {
  --palette-1: #1b10a1;
  --palette-2: #6f0100;
  --palette-3: #047974;
  --palette-4: #0adcf6;
  --palette-5: #cccd0d;

  /* A suggested mapping, not a token set. It falls short of WCAG AA on secondary text and the accent — fix that before shipping. */
  --bg: #cccd0d;
  --text: #1b10a1;        /* 7.52:1 on --bg */
  --muted: #047974;      /* 3.08:1 on --bg */
  --accent: #0adcf6;     /* 1.02:1 on --bg */
  --accent-text: #111111;
}

// tailwind.config — Spectrum Bench
export default {
  theme: {
    extend: {
      colors: {
        spectrumbench: {
        100: "#1b10a1",
        200: "#6f0100",
        300: "#047974",
        400: "#0adcf6",
        500: "#cccd0d",
        },
      },
    },
  },
};

Use the Spectrum Bench palette: #1B10A1, #6F0100, #047974, #0ADCF6, #CCCD0D.

It is for this: Scientific plots that need maximum separation across a wide set.

Map it as ground #CCCD0D, body text #1B10A1, secondary text #047974, and one accent #0ADCF6 with #111111 printed on it. That mapping does not clear WCAG AA on secondary text and the accent — body 7.52:1, secondary 3.08:1, accent 1.02:1. Fix the named role against the ground before shipping; do not ship the pair as given.

Do not use it for: Anything subtle — this is a test pattern, not a mood.

Do not add a sixth colour, do not tint the greys toward a second hue, and do not carry meaning on hue alone — once colour vision is taken away the closest two of these sit only 24.8 apart on the CIEDE2000 scale, so pair every coloured state with a label or an icon.

How this palette was built · no hex was chosen by hand

The catalog states a recipe — series from hue 190 — and the five colours are derived from it in OKLCH, where a step of lightness is a step your eye agrees with rather than one the hex numbers agree with. That is why the numbers above are properties of this palette rather than claims about it.

Others for the same job