The Dictionary of
Color Combinations

Inspired by Sanzo Wada, 1933

Historically grounded color combinations, free for working designers.

A curated reference of 30 palettes drawn from traditional Japanese color names and the editorial sensibility of early 20th century color theorists. Every palette is documented, dated, and exportable.

Browse all 30 palettes See featured

How to use this

Built for the way designers actually work.

01

Browse by era or hue

Filter thirty combinations by historical era — Heian through Edo — or by dominant color. Every palette tells you where it came from.

02

Copy the format you need

Hex codes, Tailwind config, CSS variables, or raw JSON. One click, no signup.

03

Learn the story

Each palette carries the traditional Japanese names, meanings, and context — so you can defend your choices to clients.

From the archive

The Wada Palette Bundle All 30 palettes, five formats, one download.

  • Figma design tokens (W3C-spec JSON, drag into any file)
  • Tailwind v4 config — drop straight into tailwind.config.js
  • CSS custom properties — all 30 palettes, one stylesheet
  • SVG plates — museum-style swatch sheets, print-ready at any size
  • Full JSON — colors, kanji, romaji, meanings, eras, moods
See what's inside

Launching soon. The free archive stays free, always.