Sad Aesthetic Color Palette – HEX, RGB & Design Inspiration
Color Details
HEX: #1D1E1F
RGB: 29, 30, 31
HEX: #282B2E
RGB: 40, 43, 46
HEX: #35393D
RGB: 53, 57, 61
HEX: #3E4954
RGB: 62, 73, 84
HEX: #455566
RGB: 69, 85, 102
Text on White/Black Backgrounds
Color Pair Combinations (10 total)
WCAG Contrast Standards:
- AAA (7:1): Enhanced contrast for maximum readability
- AA (4.5:1): Minimum for normal text (under 18pt)
- AA Large (3:1): Acceptable for large text (18pt+ or 14pt+ bold)
- Fail: Below WCAG standards, not recommended for text
Recommended Text Colors
Horizontal (Left to Right)
background: linear-gradient(to right, #1D1E1F 0%, #282B2E 25%, #35393D 50%, #3E4954 75%, #455566 100%);Vertical (Top to Bottom)
background: linear-gradient(to bottom, #1D1E1F 0%, #282B2E 25%, #35393D 50%, #3E4954 75%, #455566 100%);Diagonal (Top Left to Bottom Right)
background: linear-gradient(to bottom right, #1D1E1F 0%, #282B2E 25%, #35393D 50%, #3E4954 75%, #455566 100%);Usage Tips:
- Copy the CSS code and paste directly into your stylesheets
- Linear gradients work great for backgrounds and hero sections
- Radial gradients are perfect for spotlights and focus effects
- Conic gradients create eye-catching loading spinners and progress indicators
- Smooth transitions ensure seamless color blending
Normal Vision
No color vision deficiency
Color Swatches
#1D1E1F
#282B2E
#35393D
#3E4954
#455566
Full Palette View
How people with Normal Vision see it:
Overall Mood & Feel
Calm, professional, and trustworthy, with a sophisticated and dramatic atmosphere
Emotional Impact
Calming and contemplative, promoting feelings of trust, stability, and peace. The dark tones establish a premium, sophisticated feel ideal for luxury positioning
Psychological Effect
This 5-color palette creates a calm, professional, and trustworthy, with a sophisticated and dramatic atmosphere. The combination works together to create memorable visual experiences that influence consumer perception, decision-making, and brand recall. The rich variety provides versatility while maintaining cohesive emotional messaging across touchpoints.
Brand Personality Traits
Perfect For These Industries
Target Audience
Affluent consumers seeking premium, high-quality products and experiences
Individual Color Psychology
#1D1E1F
Sophisticated and powerful
Emotions Evoked
Personality Traits
Brand Traits
Ideal Industries
Marketing Use
Conveys luxury, power, and sophistication. Makes colors stand out when used as background. Popular in high-end fashion and technology. Can be overwhelming if overused.
Cultural Meanings
Color Harmony Analysis
Palette Mood
Temperature
This palette combines dark & bold and balanced moods with cool tones, making it versatile for various design applications.
Professional Implementation Guide
This monochromatic sad aesthetic palette features 5 carefully selected cool tones that create a calm and professional aesthetic. With low contrast levels and muted saturation, this palette is optimized for corporate branding and business websites.
Web Design & Development
For web development, implement this palette with CSS variables for easy theme switching. Consider adding darker variants for better text readability.
- Apply the 60-30-10 rule for visual hierarchy
- Use accent colors for CTAs and hover states
- Maintain consistent color usage across all pages
- Test responsive behavior on multiple devices
Mobile App Interfaces
In mobile applications, these cool tones provide excellent battery efficiency on OLED screens. Use the subtle color variations to define clear touch targets.
- Design both light and dark mode variants
- Consider thumb-reach zones for color placement
- Test under direct sunlight and low light
- Use color to indicate interactive elements
Brand Identity Systems
Build a cohesive brand identity by designating specific colors for specific purposes. Establish your primary brand color from the most distinctive shade and create comprehensive brand guidelines specifying exact usage scenarios.
- Define primary, secondary, and accent colors
- Create usage rules for marketing materials
- Specify minimum sizes and clear space
- Document do's and don'ts for consistency
Frontend Development
Developers can integrate this palette efficiently using modern CSS techniques. Export as CSS variables for maximum flexibility, allowing theme switching and dynamic color updates without rewriting stylesheets.
- Use CSS custom properties for theming
- Implement semantic color naming conventions
- Create utility classes for rapid prototyping
- Consider CSS-in-JS for component-scoped colors
Print Design
For print materials, convert to CMYK using #1D1E1F as the dominant color for headers and #455566 for accents. These colors translate well to print with minimal adjustment.
- Add to your design software color library
- Create swatches for quick color access
- Use CMYK values for print production
- Request color proofs before final print
Marketing Campaigns
Marketing materials benefit from consistent color usage that reinforces brand recognition. Apply this palette across email campaigns, landing pages, advertisements, and social media for maximum impact and memorability.
- Maintain color consistency across channels
- A/B test color variations for conversion
- Consider cultural color associations
- Align colors with campaign messaging
Strategic Color Distribution
Professional designers follow the 60-30-10 rule for balanced color distribution. Here's how to apply this principle with the Sad Aesthetic:
Dominant Color
#1D1E1FUse #1D1E1F as your primary color for headers, hero sections, and primary CTAs. This black tone should occupy about 60% of your design space.
Secondary Color
#35393DApply #35393D as your secondary color for subtle backgrounds and card components. Allocate approximately 30% of your layout to this color.
Accent Color
#455566Reserve #455566 for accent elements like buttons, links, and important highlights. This blue accent should be used sparingly (10% of design) to draw attention to key actions.
Professional Best Practices
✓ Smart Usage Tips
- •Add white or black text overlays to improve readability on colored backgrounds
- •Add warm accent colors to create focal points and prevent designs from feeling too cold
- •Ensure sufficient lighting contrast for text elements—use light text on dark backgrounds
- •Test your palette across different devices and lighting conditions before finalizing
✗ Common Mistakes to Avoid
- •Don't use all colors equally—establish clear visual hierarchy through color weight
- •Avoid low-contrast text combinations that strain readability
- •Don't rely solely on color to convey meaning (use icons, text, and patterns too)
- •Avoid inconsistent color usage across different pages or screens
- •Don't assume screen colors match print output—always request physical proofs
Palette Overview & Statistics
5
Total Colors
2
Associated Tags
6
Categories
4326
Community Likes
Color Analysis & Technical Guide
Detailed breakdown of each color's role, characteristics, and optimal applications. This monochromatic palette creates a calm and professional aesthetic perfect for corporate branding and business websites.
Individual Color Breakdown
Each color in this cool palette has been analyzed for its properties and ideal usage scenarios. The low contrast and muted saturation ensure harmonious visual relationships.
#1D1E1F
BLACK
#1D1E1F serves as the primary/dominant color in this palette. This dark black (muted) brings elegance and authority Use it for headers, navigation bars, and brand elements.
Dark toneH: 210°S: 3%L: 12%#282B2E
BLACK
#282B2E serves as the secondary/supporting color in this palette. This dark black (muted) brings elegance and authority Use it for cards, borders, section dividers, and supporting UI components.
Dark toneH: 210°S: 7%L: 17%#35393D
GRAY
#35393D serves as the secondary/supporting color in this palette. This dark gray (muted) brings neutrality and balance Use it for cards, borders, section dividers, and supporting UI components.
Dark toneH: 210°S: 7%L: 22%#3E4954
BLUE
#3E4954 serves as the secondary/supporting color in this palette. This dark blue (muted) brings professionalism and depth Use it for cards, borders, section dividers, and supporting UI components.
Dark toneH: 210°S: 15%L: 29%#455566
BLUE
#455566 serves as the accent/highlight color in this palette. This medium blue (muted) brings professionalism and depth Use it for call-to-action buttons, links, important notifications, and interactive elements.
Dark toneH: 211°S: 19%L: 34%
Palette Characteristics
This palette exhibits distinct characteristics that make it particularly suitable for specific design applications and industries.
Cool tones convey professionalism, trust, and calmness. Ideal for corporate and tech applications.
Low contrast creates subtle, sophisticated aesthetics but requires careful attention to text legibility.
Muted saturation offers sophistication and reduces visual fatigue, ideal for content-heavy applications.
Dark tones create dramatic, sophisticated aesthetics and save battery on OLED displays.
💡 Pro Tips for This Palette
- Perfect for: corporate branding, business websites. The monochromatic color relationship creates natural visual flow.
- Mood & Psychology: This palette evokes a calm and professional feeling, making it ideal for brands seeking to convey those qualities.
- Accessibility: Test text combinations carefully with contrast checkers to ensure accessibility compliance.
- Extensions: Create tints (add white) and shades (add black) to expand this 5-color palette into a comprehensive design system.
- Cultural Context: Cool tones are generally perceived as professional worldwide but always research cultural color meanings.
Export Formats
Explore Sad Aesthetic Palette
The Sad Aesthetic color palette evokes a sense of melancholy and introspection, transporting viewers to a world of muted tones and soothing darkness. This monochromatic scheme is characterized by a range of blues and navies, from the deep, rich 1D1E1F to the softer, more muted 455566, creating a harmonious and calming visual experience. As the colors blend together, they form a cohesive and atmospheric palette that is both somber and thought-provoking, making it perfect for designs that require a sense of serenity and contemplation.
Delving deeper into the palette, the darkest shade, 1D1E1F, provides a dramatic backdrop for designs, while 282B2E adds a touch of subtlety and nuance, introducing a slightly lighter and more versatile tone. The 35393D shade brings a sense of sophistication and elegance to the palette, its slight blue undertones adding depth and complexity to the overall aesthetic. The 3E4954 and 455566 shades, with their softer, more muted qualities, bring a sense of calmness and serenity to the design, creating a soothing visual experience that is both relaxing and thought-provoking. Each color plays a vital role in the palette, working together to create a cohesive and immersive visual experience.
The Sad Aesthetic palette is ideal for a range of design applications, from websites and apps to branding and marketing materials. Its dark, muted tones make it perfect for designs that require a sense of sophistication and elegance, such as luxury brands or creative agencies. The palette's calming and soothing qualities also make it suitable for designs related to wellness, self-care, or mental health. Additionally, the palette's monochromatic scheme makes it easy to use and adapt, allowing designers to create a consistent and cohesive visual identity across different platforms and media.
The colors in the Sad Aesthetic palette have a profound impact on viewer perception and behavior, influencing emotions and moods in subtle yet powerful ways. The dark, muted tones can create a sense of introspection and contemplation, encouraging viewers to reflect and think deeply. The blue undertones in the palette can also evoke feelings of trust and loyalty, making it perfect for designs that require a sense of stability and reliability. Furthermore, the palette's calming and soothing qualities can help to reduce stress and anxiety, creating a sense of relaxation and tranquility. By leveraging these psychological effects, designers can create designs that not only look beautiful but also resonate with viewers on a deeper level.
For designers looking to incorporate the Sad Aesthetic palette into their work, it's essential to consider complementary colors and pairing suggestions to create a harmonious and visually appealing design. The palette's dark, muted tones can be complemented by lighter, brighter colors, such as pastel shades or creamy whites, to create a sense of contrast and visual interest. Additionally, designers can pair the Sad Aesthetic palette with earthy tones, such as beige or taupe, to add warmth and texture to the design. By following these pro tips and best practices, designers can unlock the full potential of the Sad Aesthetic palette, creating designs that are both beautiful and thought-provoking.
Palette Image
Below is the generated palette image showing all colors in a vertical layout. Perfect for sharing on social media or using as a reference.
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about using and implementing the sad aesthetic palette effectively in your projects.