colourdesign.co.uk
Split-complement palette

Cornflower blue

A split-complement colour scheme built on #6495ED. The seed plus the two hues either side of its complement. Contrast without tension. A tinted neutral keeps text and surfaces consistent.

Primary#6495ED

Main brand colour. Use for headers, navigation, and primary buttons.

Secondary#EC735F

Companion colour. Use for links, highlights, and hover states.

Tertiary#D8EC5F

Accent colour. Use for highlights, charts, and callouts.

Neutral#4B5568

Tinted neutral drawn from the seed hue. Use for body text, borders, and backgrounds.

Click a swatch to copy its hex code. Badges show WCAG contrast against white text and against dark text (#0F2A3F). AAA is 7:1 or higher. AA is 4.5:1 or higher. AA large is 3:1 or higher.

In use

Sample components show how the colours work together.

Buttons

Primary action Secondary Outline Call to action Confirm

Navigation

Cornflower blueWorkServicesAboutContact

Alerts

Information uses the secondary colour.
Success uses tertiary.
Warnings use primary.

Typography

Heading in primary

Body copy in neutral 500 on a white card. This keeps long text easy to read.

Muted caption text in neutral 300.

Links use primary 500

Dark surface

Primary 900 works as a footer or hero background. Secondary 300 gives headings lift without glare.

Get started

Chart colours

Export as CSS variables

Copy this block into your stylesheet, or link to 6495ed.css and 6495ed.json.

:root {
  --primary-50: #F0F4FD;
  --primary-100: #D0DFFA;
  --primary-300: #A2BFF4;
  --primary-500: #6495ED;
  --primary-700: #4B70B2;
  --primary-900: #324A76;
  --secondary-50: #FDF1EF;
  --secondary-100: #F9D5CF;
  --secondary-300: #F4AB9F;
  --secondary-500: #EC735F;
  --secondary-700: #B15647;
  --secondary-900: #763A30;
  --tertiary-50: #FBFDEF;
  --tertiary-100: #F3F9CF;
  --tertiary-300: #E8F49F;
  --tertiary-500: #D8EC5F;
  --tertiary-700: #A2B147;
  --tertiary-900: #6C7630;
  --neutral-50: #EDEEF0;
  --neutral-100: #C9CCD2;
  --neutral-300: #9399A4;
  --neutral-500: #4B5568;
  --neutral-700: #38404E;
  --neutral-900: #262A34;
}

Steps 50 to 300 are tints. Step 500 is the base colour. Steps 700 and 900 are shades.