web colour generator 2026 / theory lab
Detune
Alternate tunings for colour palettes. Since 1999: web-safe palettes, complementary colours, spectrums, and now controlled colour wrongness.
Locked Colours
Retune around these anchors.
Alternate Tunings
A tuning is a controlled mistake: wrong relationships, disciplined colour behaviour.
Detuned Fifths
Almost-triadic intervals, pushed slightly out of tune.
Palette In Action
The tuned palette mapped into UI roles, with contrast checks for the main text pair.
Retuned System
Live Palette
Controlled chaos
The palette has a job now.
Dark and light extremes create structure, while the detuned colours bring tension.
Detune
The character
Use it for expressive labels, active states, and sharp emphasis.
Counter
The tension
A secondary signal for comparison, metadata, and alternate routes.
Noise
The impostor
Keep it small: warnings, interrupts, badges, and rare moments.
Best pairings
More contrast candidates
Text candidates
Background candidates
Palette tokens
Role-based utility handles for shipping the tuned palette.
Base Palette
Original plus nearest web-safe and shorthand color.
Wheel Offsets
Fast hue travel around the base at consistent lightness/chroma.
Perceptual Tone Ladder
OKLCH lightness steps for smoother visual spacing than raw RGB tints.
Chroma Ramp
Muted to vivid variations built from OKLCH chroma scaling.
Harmony Engine
Analogous, triadic, split complementary, tetradic, and monochrome systems.
Spectrum
Complete hue sweep at current saturation and lightness.
History
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