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#4A2023 Bordeaux Ember

Generate color codes, variations, harmonies, and check contrast ratios.

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#4a2023

CMYK…

CMYK profile: Coated FOGRA39 (Photoshop's default for Europe)

Variations

The purpose of this section is to accurately produce tints (pure white added) and shades (pure black added) of your selected color in 10% increments.

Pro tip: Use shades for hover states and shadows, tints for highlights and backgrounds.

Shades

Darker variations created by adding black to your base color.

Tints

Lighter variations created by adding white to your base color.

Common use cases

  • • UI component states (hover, active, disabled)
  • • Creating depth with shadows and highlights
  • • Building consistent color systems

Design system tip

These variations form the foundation of a cohesive color palette. Export them to maintain consistency across your entire project.

Color combinations

Each harmony has its own mood. Use harmonies to brainstorm color combos that work well together.

How to use

Click on any color to copy its hex value. These combinations are mathematically proven to create visual harmony.

Why it matters

Color harmonies create balance and evoke specific emotions in your designs.

Complement

A color and its opposite on the color wheel, +180 degrees of hue. High contrast.

Best for: High-impact designs, CTAs, logos

Split-complementary

A color and two adjacent to its complement, +/-30 degrees of hue from the value opposite the main color. Bold like a straight complement, but more versatile.

Best for: Vibrant yet balanced layouts

Triadic

Three colors spaced evenly along the color wheel, each 120 degrees of hue apart. Best to allow one color to dominate and use the others as accents.

Best for: Playful, energetic designs

Analogous

Three colors of the same luminance and saturation with hues that are adjacent on the color wheel, 30 degrees apart. Smooth transitions.

Best for: Nature-inspired, calming interfaces

Monochromatic

Three colors of the same hue with luminance values +/-50%. Subtle and refined.

Best for: Minimalist, sophisticated designs

Tetradic

Two sets of complementary colors, separated by 60 degrees of hue.

Best for: Rich, diverse color schemes

Color theory principles

Balance

Use one dominant color, support with secondary, and accent sparingly.

Contrast

Ensure sufficient contrast for readability and accessibility.

Harmony

Colors should work together to create a unified visual experience.

Color contrast checker

Test color combinations to ensure they meet WCAG accessibility standards for text readability.

Contrast

1.00
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Small text
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Large text
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WCAG standards

AA:Minimum contrast ratio of 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text. Required for most websites.
AAA:Enhanced contrast ratio of 7:1 for normal text and 4.5:1 for large text. Recommended for optimal accessibility.
Insufficient contrast for all text sizes - fails WCAG standards.

Advanced contrast checker

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Everybody is a Genius. But If You Judge a Fish by Its Ability to Climb a Tree, It Will Live Its Whole Life Believing that It is Stupid.

- Albert Einstein

Technical formats

Explore advanced color space representations and professional color models used in video production, photography, scientific applications, and color management systems. These technical formats provide precise color specifications for specialized industries and applications.

Practical formats

Convert colors to practical formats for real-world applications including print simulation, LED displays, terminal output, and data encoding. These formats help you implement colors across different media, platforms, and physical devices.

Color analysis

Analyze color properties with advanced metrics including spectral composition, color purity, metamerism effects, and perceptual characteristics. These tools provide deep insights into color behavior and appearance under different viewing conditions.

Blindness simulator

Check how a color is perceived by people with different types of color blindness to create more accessible designs. Understanding color perception helps ensure your content is accessible to everyone.

Creative aspects

Explore the artistic and psychological dimensions of colors including seasonal associations, emotional impact, natural occurrences, historical pigments, and color mixing recipes for creative applications.

Frequently asked questions

#4A2023 is Bordeaux Ember. A deep, smoky wine-brown with a low-saturation crimson core and near-black depth. It feels intimate and storied — like a leather-bound book opened by lamplight.

aged wine and tradition, comforting hearth and hearth-ash warmth, maturity and seriousness, romantic reserve, craftsmanship and authenticity. In Western European contexts this shade reads as 'Bordeaux' wine and luxury; in East Asian textiles deep reds can signal formality and auspiciousness but this muted, brown-tinged variant leans more reserved than celebratory. In Latin American colonial and indigenous dye histories, deep crimson tones from cochineal or madder carry historical value as both trade commodities and status markers.

In a space or design, Bordeaux Ember pulls attention inward and creates an enveloping, cozy atmosphere that reads as deliberately curated. It reduces perceived brightness and heightens texture, making materials feel richer and more tactile.

Bordeaux Ember pairs well with #1FAAA7, #CF9A6B, #334B55. #1FAAA7: Complementary teal — offers cool contrast that brightens and modernizes the deep warmth (complementary harmony).. #CF9A6B: Warm muted gold — an analogous warm accent that enhances the color's aged, tactile luxury (analogous/warm accent).. #334B55: Slate blue-gray — a near-neutral cool anchor that provides sophisticated contrast without high saturation (split-complementary/neutralizing contrast)..

Intimate sophistication with quiet authority Viewers typically feel calm, reflective, and privately indulged when they see this color. Key traits: sophistication, intimacy, stability, restraint, sensuality.

Bordeaux Ember is commonly used in Wine & spirits, Artisanal leather goods, Boutique hospitality (wine bars, heritage hotels). It fits brand archetypes like The Ruler, The Lover.

Deep wine-browns like Bordeaux Ember trace back to ancient crimson dyes and lakes — kermes and later cochineal produced saturated reds that, when muted with iron oxides or earth pigments, yielded darker, brown-tinged variants used in textiles and leather. In painters' palettes, earth pigments (burnt umber, red iron oxide) have long been blended to achieve this restrained, smoky red-brown.

Respect contrast and texture — the color's power comes from depth and tactility, not brightness. Best practices: Pair with a muted teal complement for striking contrast (use sparingly as accent), especially for premium CTA buttons.; Use warm off-whites for type to keep contrast humane rather than clinical; consider 16–20% increased letter-spacing on large display text.; Introduce texture (leather grain, paper deckle, soft matte varnish) to let the color reveal depth and avoid flatness..

Contrast ratio on white: 13.80:1, on black: 1.52:1. Passes WCAG AA for normal and large text.