Palette Analysis

Julia's six Coolors palettes · accessibility analysis

Every palette you sent, tested honestly.

Each color was measured against WCAG contrast standards — the same ones your travelers depend on. Nothing was rejected for failing: colors that can't carry text still have jobs (backgrounds, shapes, moods), and colors that almost pass can usually be deepened without losing their character. Here's where each palette stands.

Legend: AAA strongest — any text AA passes — normal text LARGE big text & graphics only DECOR backgrounds & shapes only — never text

Dusk — wine to sky

★ Already built — Family 4, live on every page

Verdict: built and live. Your wine passes AAA exactly as you sent it. Three of five colors kept untouched; violet and slate deepened in-hue to pass. See it on the overview and any homepage — button "4 · Dusk."

Harbor — navy, teal & sand

Strong build candidate

Verdict: excellent bones — the structure of an accessible palette is already here. Your navy and sand make a beautiful 14.9:1 ink-and-paper pair with zero changes, and it's the closest of the six to your original blues-and-greens brief. The teal needs deepening (to about #1E464D) to carry text; the seafoams slot in as backgrounds and calm shapes.

Tuned mapping: ink #031926 (yours) · paper #F4E9CD (yours) · primary #1E464D (your teal, deepened — 8.5:1 AAA) · supporting #35646B (5.5:1 AA) · "go" #468189 (yours, large/graphics) · decoration #9DBEBB (yours). Say the word and this becomes Family 5.

Evening Garden — plum, sage & citron

Strong build candidate

Verdict: the accessibility star of the six. Two of your colors pass AAA completely untouched — the plum at 11.2:1 and the indigo at 8.1:1. The citron can't ever be text, but as a decoration color it would give this brand its most distinctive spark. The most unexpected, personality-forward option.

Tuned mapping: primary #3D315B (yours) · secondary #444B6E (yours) · supporting #5A7560 (your sage, deepened — AA) · "go" #74944F (your leaf, deepened — graphics) · decoration #F8F991 (yours) · paper #FBFAEC + ink #211C33 derived. Say the word and this becomes a family too.

Signal — red, mint & navy

Buildable — but one flag

Verdict: technically sound — the navy is a 12.2:1 anchor and the structure works. The honest flag is the red itself: red is the universal alarm color, and for a brand whose promise is calm — especially for sensory-sensitive travelers — a red this loud works against the message. If you love it, it could live as a tiny, rare accent. We wouldn't lead with it.

Powder — soft blues

Tints only — needs a dark anchor

Verdict: lovely mood, but no color here can ever carry text — every pairing lands between 1.1:1 and 2.4:1, far below the 4.5:1 floor. This isn't a usable palette on its own; it's a beautiful background atmosphere. Pair it with a deep navy ink and it becomes the soft side of something like Harbor or Open Water.

Sage Mist — pale greens & greys

Tints only — needs a dark anchor

Verdict: same story as Powder — a gentle, sensory-calm atmosphere with no text-capable color. The deepest grey-green just clears the bar for large graphics. As section backgrounds inside another family, these would be lovely; alone, they can't meet the standard the brand promises.

Where this lands

  • Dusk is already built — switch any page to "4 · Dusk" to wear it.
  • Harbor and Evening Garden are both one "yes" away from becoming switchable families — Harbor is closest to the original blues-and-greens brief; Evening Garden has the most personality and the best raw accessibility.
  • Powder and Sage Mist can live inside any family as background moods — they just can't lead.
  • Signal works on paper, but red argues with a calm brand. Available if Julia feels strongly.