Youtube Dark Mode Color Palette – HEX, RGB & Design Inspiration
Color Details
HEX: #181818
RGB: 24, 24, 24
HEX: #212121
RGB: 33, 33, 33
HEX: #3D3D3D
RGB: 61, 61, 61
HEX: #FFFFFF
RGB: 255, 255, 255
HEX: #AAAAAA
RGB: 170, 170, 170
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, #181818 0%, #212121 25%, #3D3D3D 50%, #FFFFFF 75%, #AAAAAA 100%);Vertical (Top to Bottom)
background: linear-gradient(to bottom, #181818 0%, #212121 25%, #3D3D3D 50%, #FFFFFF 75%, #AAAAAA 100%);Diagonal (Top Left to Bottom Right)
background: linear-gradient(to bottom right, #181818 0%, #212121 25%, #3D3D3D 50%, #FFFFFF 75%, #AAAAAA 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
#181818
#212121
#3D3D3D
#FFFFFF
#AAAAAA
Full Palette View
How people with Normal Vision see it:
Overall Mood & Feel
Energetic, warm, and inviting
Emotional Impact
Stimulating and energetic, evoking feelings of excitement, warmth, and action. The balanced lightness creates versatility across different contexts
Psychological Effect
This 5-color palette creates a energetic, warm, and inviting. 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
#181818
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 and light & airy moods with neutral tones, making it versatile for various design applications.
Professional Implementation Guide
This monochromatic youtube dark mode palette features 5 carefully selected warm tones that create a balanced and versatile aesthetic. With high contrast levels and muted saturation, this palette is optimized for web interfaces and mobile apps.
Web Design & Development
For web development, implement this palette with CSS variables for easy theme switching. The high contrast makes it ideal for accessible interfaces meeting WCAG AA standards.
- 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 warm tones provide excellent battery efficiency on OLED screens. Use the strong color contrast 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 #181818 as the dominant color for headers and #AAAAAA 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 Youtube Dark Mode:
Dominant Color
#181818Use #181818 as your primary color for backgrounds, main content areas. This black tone should occupy about 60% of your design space.
Secondary Color
#3D3D3DApply #3D3D3D as your secondary color for supporting elements and section dividers. Allocate approximately 30% of your layout to this color.
Accent Color
#AAAAAAReserve #AAAAAA for accent elements like buttons, links, and important highlights. This gray accent should be used sparingly (10% of design) to draw attention to key actions.
Professional Best Practices
✓ Smart Usage Tips
- •Balance warm tones with neutral whites or grays to create visual breathing room
- •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
2460
Community Likes
Color Analysis & Technical Guide
Detailed breakdown of each color's role, characteristics, and optimal applications. This monochromatic palette creates a balanced and versatile aesthetic perfect for web interfaces and mobile apps.
Individual Color Breakdown
Each color in this warm palette has been analyzed for its properties and ideal usage scenarios. The high contrast and muted saturation ensure excellent readability and accessibility.
#181818
BLACK
#181818 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: 0°S: 0%L: 9%#212121
BLACK
#212121 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: 0°S: 0%L: 13%#3D3D3D
GRAY
#3D3D3D 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: 0°S: 0%L: 24%#FFFFFF
WHITE
#FFFFFF serves as the secondary/supporting color in this palette. This light white (muted) brings cleanliness and simplicity Use it for cards, borders, section dividers, and supporting UI components.
Light toneH: 0°S: 0%L: 100%#AAAAAA
GRAY
#AAAAAA serves as the accent/highlight color in this palette. This medium gray (muted) brings neutrality and balance Use it for call-to-action buttons, links, important notifications, and interactive elements.
Light toneH: 0°S: 0%L: 67%
Palette Characteristics
This palette exhibits distinct characteristics that make it particularly suitable for specific design applications and industries.
Warm colors create energy, excitement, and approachability. Perfect for brands targeting emotional connection.
High contrast ensures excellent readability and meets WCAG accessibility standards for most text combinations.
Muted saturation offers sophistication and reduces visual fatigue, ideal for content-heavy applications.
Balanced brightness provides flexibility for both light and dark design elements.
💡 Pro Tips for This Palette
- Perfect for: web interfaces, mobile apps. The monochromatic color relationship creates natural visual flow.
- Mood & Psychology: This palette evokes a balanced and versatile feeling, making it ideal for brands seeking to convey those qualities.
- Accessibility: Excellent contrast makes this palette naturally accessible. Most color combinations will meet WCAG AA standards.
- Extensions: Create tints (add white) and shades (add black) to expand this 5-color palette into a comprehensive design system.
- Cultural Context: Warm colors may have different meanings across cultures—verify associations with your target market.
Export Formats
Explore Youtube Dark Mode Palette
The Youtube Dark Mode color palette is a masterful blend of deep, rich tones that evoke a sense of calmness and sophistication, while also exuding a sense of modernity and boldness. This monochromatic palette, with its predominantly dark and muted shades, is not only aesthetically pleasing but also incredibly versatile, making it an excellent choice for designers looking to create a dramatic and engaging visual experience. The palette's overall style is characterized by its warm and muted undertones, which are balanced by the presence of a crisp and clean white, as seen in the color code 3D3D3D, and a soft and subtle gray, as seen in the color code AAAAAA, that add a touch of warmth to the overall design.
At the heart of the Youtube Dark Mode palette are five distinct colors that work together in harmony to create a truly unique visual identity. The darkest shade, 181818, provides a dramatic backdrop for the other colors to shine, while the slightly lighter 212121 adds a touch of depth and dimension to the design. The color code 3D3D3D brings a sense of balance and stability to the palette, its soft gray tone helping to temper the boldness of the darker shades. Meanwhile, the crisp white of FFFFFF adds a burst of energy and vitality to the design, cutting through the darkness and creating a sense of contrast and visual interest. Finally, the soft gray of AAAAAA helps to tie the whole palette together, its subtle tone providing a sense of continuity and cohesion.
The Youtube Dark Mode palette is incredibly versatile, making it an excellent choice for a wide range of design applications, from websites and apps to branding and marketing materials. Its dark and muted tones make it particularly well-suited for designs that require a sense of drama and sophistication, such as entertainment or tech-related projects. The palette's modern and bold style also makes it an excellent choice for designs that need to stand out and grab the viewer's attention, such as social media campaigns or product launches. Whether you're looking to create a website, an app, or a branding identity, the Youtube Dark Mode palette is an excellent choice for designers who want to create a unique and engaging visual experience.
The colors in the Youtube Dark Mode palette have a profound influence on viewer perception and behavior, with the dark and muted tones creating a sense of calmness and relaxation. The presence of the crisp white and soft gray helps to balance out the boldness of the darker shades, creating a sense of contrast and visual interest that draws the viewer in and engages them. The palette's modern and bold style also helps to create a sense of excitement and energy, making it an excellent choice for designs that need to motivate and inspire the viewer. While the palette does not explicitly feature pink or coral hues, its warm and muted undertones create a sense of warmth and approachability that is reminiscent of these color themes.
For designers looking to get the most out of the Youtube Dark Mode palette, there are a number of pro tips and tricks to keep in mind. One of the most effective ways to use this palette is to pair the darker shades with the crisp white and soft gray, creating a sense of contrast and visual interest that draws the viewer in and engages them. The palette also works well with complementary colors, such as bright and bold hues, which can help to add a sense of energy and vitality to the design. When it comes to design best practices, it's a good idea to use the darker shades as a background, and reserve the lighter shades for accents and highlights, creating a sense of depth and dimension that adds visual interest to the design. By following these tips and tricks, designers can unlock the full potential of the Youtube Dark Mode palette and create a truly unique and engaging visual experience.
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 youtube dark mode palette effectively in your projects.
