Tints & Shades
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Scale from white (50) through Butter (500) to black (900), interpolated in Lab color space.
Color Values
- HEX
- #F0DC82
- RGB
- rgb(240, 220, 130)
- HSL
- hsl(49, 79%, 73%)
- OKLCH
- oklch(0.892 0.113 97)
- CMYK
- cmyk(0%, 8%, 46%, 6%)
--color-butterbg-[#F0DC82]Accessibility
Score: 48/100On White (#FFF)
1.38:1
On Black (#000)
15.26:1
On Light Gray (#F5F5F5)
1.26:1
Best text color on this background:
Design Applications
background-color: #F0DC82
color: #F0DC82
bg-[#F0DC82] text-[#000000]
border-left: 4px solid #F0DC82
Color Harmonies
Complementary
Persian Blue
#1C39BB
Split-Complementary
Similar Colors
Color Meaning & Psychology
Yellow is the most luminous color in the visible spectrum — the color our eyes detect first and at the greatest distance. It stimulates mental activity, promotes optimism, and conveys clarity. However, yellow is also the most fatiguing for the human eye at extended exposure, and pure yellow text on white fails all accessibility standards. In design, yellow works best as an accent or background for dark text. Golden yellows signal warmth and achievement; cool lemons feel fresh and modern. Yellow is the universal color of caution — from traffic lights to hazard tape. Its lighter value makes it approachable and soft — suitable for backgrounds, secondary UI states, and contexts requiring the hue's character without full intensity.
Industry Usage
Common contexts and industries where Butter is applied in professional design.
- Taxi and transportation services
- Construction and heavy machinery
- Children's education products and toys
- Fast food and energy-focused brands
- Caution and safety signage
- Summer and outdoor lifestyle brands
- Optimistic lifestyle and wellness brands
- Creative agencies emphasizing ideas
Accessibility Considerations
Normal Text
Fails AA
4.5:1 minimum required
Large Text
Fails AA Large
3:1 minimum required
UI Components
Check contrast
3:1 for non-text UI
Butter is a light color. Use black (#000000) text on top of it for maximum readability (15.26:1). Avoid white text on this background.
CSS & Code Examples
Background
background-color: #F0DC82;Text
color: #F0DC82;Border
border: 2px solid #F0DC82;Box Shadow
box-shadow: 0 4px 20px #F0DC8240;Gradient
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #F0DC82, #ffffb3);Tailwind-style
--color-butter: #F0DC82;Tailwind CSS Utilities
Use arbitrary value syntax in Tailwind CSS to apply Butter without a custom config.
Background
bg-[#F0DC82]Text
text-[#F0DC82]Border
border-[#F0DC82]Ring
ring-[#F0DC82]Fill
fill-[#F0DC82]From (gradient)
from-[#F0DC82]Via (gradient)
via-[#F0DC82]To (gradient)
to-[#F0DC82]Design Tokens
Ready-to-use Butter design token in CSS custom properties, SCSS, Tailwind v3/v4, and JSON formats.
CSS Custom Properties
:root {
--color-butter: #F0DC82;
--color-butter-rgb: 240, 220, 130;
--color-butter-hsl: 49, 79%, 73%;
}SCSS Variables
$color-butter: #F0DC82; $color-butter-rgb: 240, 220, 130; $color-butter-hsl: 49, 79%, 73%;
Tailwind v3 Config
// tailwind.config.js
module.exports = {
theme: {
extend: {
colors: {
'butter': '#F0DC82',
},
},
},
};Tailwind v4 (@theme)
/* tailwind.css */
@theme {
--color-butter: #F0DC82;
}JSON Design Token (W3C format)
{
"butter": {
"value": "#F0DC82",
"type": "color",
"description": "Butter — #F0DC82"
}
}More yellow colors
View all →What Does Butter Mean? Color Psychology & Cultural Symbolism
Butter at #F0DC82 is a light interpretation of one of the spectrum's most semantically rich hues. Yellow sits at the junction of optimism and caution in human psychology—and this particular shade resolves that tension in favor of optimism.
- Yellow occupies a paradoxical space in Western symbolism—simultaneously the color of happiness, optimism, and cowardice. In commercial contexts it signals caution (traffic lights, hazard tape) and sale promotions. In consumer branding it communicates cheerfulness and energy.
- In Chinese and many other East Asian cultures, yellow (and especially gold-yellow) historically signified royalty, prosperity, and imperial authority. In Buddhist traditions it represents wisdom and harmony.
- Butter's light lightness (73%) shifts its psychological register: Pale yellow and champagne tones feel warm, neutral, and almost white—excellent for backgrounds, subtle warmth in neutral palettes, and understated accents.
- At 79% saturation, Butter reads as moderately saturated—neither overwhelming nor passive, landing in the optimism, clarity, intellect, and caution zone with measured confidence.
The power of Butter lies in selective deployment—too much and it fatigues, too little and the energy dissipates. Find the balance.
How to Use Butter in Design: Applications, Pairings & Best Practices
The accessibility challenge with yellow is real—most yellow tones fail WCAG contrast requirements on white—but Butter's value as a highlight, background, and accent color is unmatched in creating optimistic, high-energy palettes.
- UI components: warning states, highlights, feature callouts—Butter performs reliably in all these roles with its light tonal character.
- Brand & identity: highlights, callout banners, brand accents—contexts where Butter's moderately saturated quality creates the right register.
- Typography: Butter as text requires a dark background; its 73% lightness means it provides 1.4:1 contrast on white, not meeting WCAG AA.
- Butter creates strong legibility with black text overlays (15.3:1 contrast ratio), making it a reliable background or surface color in design systems
- Proportional use: Butter's moderately saturated saturation (79%) means small applications—accents, highlights, icons—deliver maximum impact without visual fatigue. Reserve large-scale use for intentional brand moments.
The power of Butter lies in selective deployment—too much and it fatigues, too little and the energy dissipates. Find the balance.
Butter Accessibility: WCAG Contrast Ratios, Color Blindness & Inclusive Design
Butter (#F0DC82) achieves a 15.26:1 contrast ratio with black text, surpassing the WCAG 2.1 AAA threshold of 7:1. This exceptional contrast qualifies it for body text, UI components at any size, and all accessibility-sensitive interface contexts. Relative luminance: 71.3%.
- As text on white (#FFFFFF): 1.38:1 — Fail
- As text on black (#000000): 15.26:1 — AAA ✓
- Best text color on Butter background: Black (#000000) at 15.26:1
- WCAG 2.1 luminance: 71.3% — high-luminance (near-white)—it provides excellent readability for dark text overlays and integrates naturally into light design systems
- Butter qualifies for all text sizes including small body copy (AAA).
- Color blindness consideration: tritanopia (blue-yellow color blindness, ~0.003% of population) may affect how this color reads. While rare, for maximum accessibility supplement color signals with text or icon indicators in critical states.
Butter's WCAG profile makes it a compliant choice for most text applications.
Butter in Industry: Branding, Design & Market Applications
Butter (#F0DC82) is most at home in industries where optimism, clarity, intellect, and caution are key brand values. Its light quality makes it particularly effective in Food & Beverage contexts, where the moderately saturated saturation signals brightness at exactly the right register.
- Food & Beverage: Yellow stimulates appetite and communicates freshness, especially for bakery, dairy, and snack categories. Its association with sunlight and ripe crops makes it an instinctive choice for natural and wholesome food brands. (examples: Chipotle, Sweetgreen, Blue Bottle Coffee) Extremely effective for children's food products; less effective for premium dining where it reads as casual.
- Education & Children's Products: Yellow is cognitively stimulating and signals playfulness, making it a dominant choice in educational materials, children's toys, and learning apps. It creates an environment of curiosity and creative energy. (examples: Chegg, Khan Academy, Coursera) Combine with blue for a classic educational palette that suggests both warmth and reliability.
- Safety & Construction: Yellow is the universal signal for visibility and caution. High-visibility vests, construction equipment, and warning signage use yellow because it provides maximum contrast in low-light conditions and stands out in natural environments. This safety connotation can be leveraged in UX for warning states and "proceed with awareness" signals.
- Brand positioning: Butter is best suited for brands projecting optimism, creativity, clarity. Categories outside this positioning—body text on white (extremely poor contrast)—tend to see weaker results.
- Adjacent applications: Beyond primary industries, Butter works effectively in highlights, callout banners, brand accents—contexts where brightness serves a secondary but reinforcing role.
The industries where Butter performs best are those where the audience expects brightness. Build brand strategy around this alignment, not against it.
Accessibility & Design Guides
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the hex code for Butter? ▾
- The hex code for Butter is #F0DC82. Its RGB values are rgb(240, 220, 130) and its HSL values are hsl(49, 79%, 73%).
- What does Butter mean in design? ▾
- Yellow is the most luminous color in the visible spectrum — the color our eyes detect first and at the greatest distance. It stimulates mental activity, promotes optimism, and conveys clarity. However, yellow is also the most fatiguing for the human eye at extended exposure, and pure yellow text on white fails all accessibility standards. In design, yellow works best as an accent or background for dark text. Golden yellows signal warmth and achievement; cool lemons feel fresh and modern. Yellow is the universal color of caution — from traffic lights to hazard tape. Its lighter value makes it approachable and soft — suitable for backgrounds, secondary UI states, and contexts requiring the hue's character without full intensity.
- Is Butter WCAG accessible? ▾
- Butter (#F0DC82) does not pass WCAG AA on white (1.38:1 ratio). Use it on dark backgrounds where it achieves 15.26:1. Its overall accessibility score is 48/100.
- What colors go well with Butter? ▾
- Butter pairs well with its complementary color Persian Blue (#1C39BB). Analogous colors like Dark Brown and Squash also work harmoniously. Check the Color Harmonies section above for the full palette.
- What is Butter used for? ▾
- Butter is commonly used for: Taxi and transportation services; Construction and heavy machinery; Children's education products and toys; Fast food and energy-focused brands; Caution and safety signage.
- What are the CSS and Tailwind values for Butter? ▾
- In CSS, use `color: #F0DC82` or `background-color: #F0DC82`. The CSS custom property is `--color-butter: #F0DC82`. In Tailwind CSS, use the arbitrary value class `bg-[#F0DC82]` for backgrounds or `text-[#F0DC82]` for text.