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Teoría del Color8 conceptos·~20 min

Teoría del Color

8 demos interactivos — aprende haciendo, no leyendo

01 Hue02 Saturation03 Lightness04 Complementary05 Analogous06 Triadic07 Tints & Shades08 Contrast (WCAG)

El color es lo primero que las personas sienten antes de leer una sola palabra. Un tono incorrecto transmite la emoción incorrecta. El bajo contraste hace el texto invisible. Los colores que chocan rompen la confianza. Estos 8 demos te dan control directo de cada propiedad — arrastra un slider y observa cómo la teoría se vuelve obvia.

Hue

The pure color itself — its position on the color wheel. 0° = red, 120° = green, 240° = blue.

220°
220°
hue220°

Hue alone doesn't make a color beautiful — saturation and lightness do that. But hue is the identity: it's the difference between red and blue.

Saturation

How vivid or muted a color is. 0% is greyscale, 100% is the most intense version of the hue.

70%
Vivid70% sat
0%
15%
30%
50%
65%
80%
100%
saturation70%
hue220°

Low saturation = calm, professional, neutral. High saturation = energetic, bold, attention-grabbing. UI design often uses 40–70% to stay pleasant without screaming.

Lightness

How much white or black is mixed in. 0% is always black, 100% is always white, 50% is the pure color.

50%
Pure hue50% light
10%
25%
40%
55%
70%
80%
90%
lightness50%
hue220°

Shades (lower lightness) feel deep and serious. Tints (higher lightness) feel airy and soft. The same hue tells a different story depending on its lightness.

Complementary Colors

Colors directly opposite on the color wheel (180° apart). Maximum contrast — they intensify each other.

180°
Base220°hsl(220, 75%, 50%)
Complement40°hsl(40, 75%, 50%)

This text uses the complement as its color — maximum contrast, maximum punch.

Subdued background, complement accent — elegant and high impact.

hue220°

Complementary pairs create visual tension. Used in call-to-action buttons, logos and data visualisation. Use one color dominant and the other as accent.

Analogous Colors

Three colors adjacent on the wheel (±30°). They share a temperature, feel cohesive, and never clash.

±30°
−30°170°
Base200°
+30°230°
hue200°

Analogous palettes are safe and harmonious — think ocean blues/greens or sunset oranges/reds. Use them when you want a calm, unified feel. Add a complementary accent to avoid boredom.

Triadic Colors

Three colors evenly spaced 120° apart. Bold contrast with visual balance — harder to pull off but very striking.

120°
Base0°
+120°120°
+240°240°
hue0°

The classic triadic is red/yellow/blue. Triadic palettes are vibrant and playful — great for children's products, creative brands, and anything that needs energy. Let one color dominate.

Tints & Shades

Adding white (tint) or black (shade) to a base color. Essential for building design system palettes.

9-step scale
Tintl:90%
Basel:50%
Shadel:10%
hue220°
saturation75%

Design tokens like Tailwind's blue-100 through blue-900 are exactly this. Pick one hue, generate 9 levels, and you have a complete, production-ready color scale.

Contrast & Accessibility (WCAG)

The contrast ratio between text and background determines readability. WCAG 2.1 sets minimum thresholds.

13.40:1

The quick brown fox

Body text at normal size. Can you read this comfortably? WCAG AA requires 4.5:1 for text under 18px.

contrast ratio: 13.40:1

AA Large AA Normal AAA Large AAA Normal
Background
hue220°
sat30%
light12%
Text
hue220°
sat20%
light90%

AA Normal (4.5:1) is the legal minimum for body text. AAA (7:1) is ideal. Large text (18px+) and UI components only need 3:1. Never sacrifice readability for aesthetics.

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