About this combination
Akane is a red extracted from the madder root — an ancient, slow-growing dye. Tokiwa is the deep, constant green of pine needles that never brown. The pairing speaks of longevity, faithful duty, and the old agricultural calendar.
Where it works
- Heritage food and craft branding
- Folk-art publications
- Agricultural cooperatives
Historical context
This editorial combination anchors Akane, Tokiwa, Suna-iro and Sumi in the red family — a 4-colour grouping with a earthy, bold, solemn character. It is an original composition by the editors of colorcombinations.org, built with Wada's method from traditional Japanese shikisai colour names associated with the Edo era; it is not one of the 348 plates in Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations. Its strongest pairing — Suna-iro on Sumi — reaches a contrast ratio of 10.88:1, clearing the WCAG AAA bar for body text, so it holds up for text-on-colour layouts as well as decorative use.
Studio
Taking Madder Red & Evergreen off the screen
A hex code is an instruction to a screen, not a colour. Where this palette is going decides what it needs next.
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...onto paper
Start here if the palette gets printed. Screen colour and ink colour are not the same colour, and this is the deck that translates between them.
Pantone
Color Bridge Guide — coated
Listed on Amazon as Pantone Color Bridge Guide Coated | Pantone to CMYK, RGB & HTML Color Matching Fan Deck for Graphic Design, Branding & Print | GG6103B
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...onto a screen you can trust
Start here if it stays digital. An uncalibrated monitor is the single most common reason a palette that looked right on your desk looks wrong everywhere else.
Calibrite
Display Plus HL colorimeter kit
Listed on Amazon as Calibrite Video Photo Kit with Display Plus HL Colorimeter and ColorChecker Passport Video 2, 10,000 Nit Monitor Calibration, Camera Color Matching
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...by hand
Start here if you are mixing it. Wada's plates were flat printed colour; gansai pans are the closest everyday medium to them.
Kuretake
Gansai Tambi 24 — Art Nouveau
Listed on Amazon as Kuretake GANSAI TAMBI Watercolor Paint Set 24 Colors II - Art Nouveau
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