Neutral Color Palette
A five-step warm gray scale from near-white to near-black. The backbone of minimal interfaces — pair with any single accent color.
neutralminimalui
#F5F5F4
#E7E5E4
#A8A29E
#57534E
#1C1917
#f5f5f4 #e7e5e4 #a8a29e #57534e #1c1917
#F5F5F4 #E7E5E4 #A8A29E #57534E #1C1917
Semantic roles
Assigned deterministically: lightest = background, darkest = text, most saturated = primary.
| background | #F5F5F4 | |
| surface | #E7E5E4 | |
| text | #1C1917 | |
| text-muted | #57534E | |
| primary | #57534E | |
| secondary | #E7E5E4 | |
| accent | #A8A29E |
CSS variables
:root {
--background: #f5f5f4;
--surface: #e7e5e4;
--text: #1c1917;
--text-muted: #57534e;
--primary: #57534e;
--secondary: #e7e5e4;
--accent: #a8a29e;
}Accessibility matrix
Text color (rows) on background (columns). Green = WCAG AA pass for normal text (≥4.5:1).
| Text \ BG | #F5F5F4 | #E7E5E4 | #A8A29E | #57534E | #1C1917 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #F5F5F4 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 2.3 | 7.0 | 16.0 |
| #E7E5E4 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 6.1 | 13.9 |
| #A8A29E | 2.3 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 6.9 |
| #57534E | 7.0 | 6.1 | 3.0 | 1.0 | 2.3 |
| #1C1917 | 16.0 | 13.9 | 6.9 | 2.3 | 1.0 |
Under deuteranopia
Machado et al. (2009) simulation, severity 1.0 — approximation, not a medical tool.
Colors in this palette
#F5F5F4
rgb(245, 245, 244)
#E7E5E4
rgb(231, 229, 228)
#A8A29E
rgb(168, 162, 158)
#57534E
rgb(87, 83, 78)
#1C1917
rgb(28, 25, 23)
Similar palettes
FAQ
How do I use the neutral color palette in CSS?
Copy the CSS variables below into :root and use var(--primary), var(--background) etc. Full palette: #F5F5F4, #E7E5E4, #A8A29E, #57534E, #1C1917.
Do these colors pass accessibility checks?
See the WCAG matrix on this page: every text-on-background pairing with ratio ≥ 4.5 passes AA for normal text; ≥ 3 passes AA for large text and UI components.