Manuscript

What was measured

Closest neighbours

ΔE00 13.6

how alike two adjacent swatches look

Darkest to lightest

11.61:1

WCAG contrast across the set

Lightness covered

64 pts

of OKLCH lightness, 0–100

Under colour blindness

ΔE00 12.7

worst under protanopia

These two are one colour to a reader with protanopia. Fine while the set is read as an order; never use them to mean two different things without a label or an icon as well.

Five colours are not an interface, so this is an offer rather than a token set. It clears WCAG AA as it stands.

/* Manuscript — Archives and long documents; every step is a shade of the same paper. */
:root {
  --palette-1: #311e1d;
  --palette-2: #624444;
  --palette-3: #946f72;
  --palette-4: #bfa2a6;
  --palette-5: #ebd9dc;

  /* A suggested mapping, not a token set. It clears WCAG AA as it stands. */
  --bg: #ebd9dc;
  --text: #311e1d;        /* 11.61:1 on --bg */
  --muted: #624444;      /* 6.38:1 on --bg */
  --accent: #946f72;     /* 3.24:1 on --bg */
  --accent-text: #ffffff;
}

// tailwind.config — Manuscript
export default {
  theme: {
    extend: {
      colors: {
        manuscript: {
        100: "#311e1d",
        200: "#624444",
        300: "#946f72",
        400: "#bfa2a6",
        500: "#ebd9dc",
        },
      },
    },
  },
};

Use the Manuscript palette: #311E1D, #624444, #946F72, #BFA2A6, #EBD9DC.

It is for this: Archives and long documents; every step is a shade of the same paper.

Map it as ground #EBD9DC, body text #311E1D, secondary text #624444, and one accent #946F72 with #FFFFFF printed on it. Body text measures 11.61:1 against the ground and secondary text 6.38:1, so this mapping clears WCAG AA as it stands.

Do not use it for: Status systems — there is no colour left over for meaning.

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 12.7 apart on the CIEDE2000 scale, which is too close to tell apart, 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 — ramp from hue 14 — 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.

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