Brand gradient

BBC gradient

The gradient BBC's published colour tokens imply, derived by a pure function of the palette: primary → secondary in OKLab (OKLCH shorter hue when the hues are more than 140° apart; a tonal ramp when they are within ΔE 0.15), then a hero background with an ink that passes AA at the worst point along the line, a button surface with hover and active states, and the variant contact sheet. Same inputs, same gradients, forever — which is what makes them citable; the same values are served as --brand-gradient in the brand's brand.css.

#000000 #0071f1 #0000ee

Open in the maker BBC colors →Full brand page →media

Source: bbc.com
Extracted: 2 September 2026
Version: 3

BBC

white text · worst 4.53:1 · AA

white 4.53 AAblack 1.00 failsbanding medium

Hero and button

Hero background

Open in maker →

Chroma ×0.35 so it can carry text; ink white (inkFor at the midpoint). L shifted −0.01 until the ink passes AA at the worst point (4.58:1).

white 4.58 AAblack 1.00 failsbanding medium

css

linear-gradient(135deg in oklab, #000000 0%, #5a77a1 100%)

tailwind v4

bg-linear-to-br/oklab from-[#000000] to-[#5a77a1]

Button / CTA

Open in maker →

ΔL 0.08 top→bottom in the primary's hue (a lit surface, not a rainbow); hover L +0.03, active L −0.03. White ink passes AA on the surface and both states (worst 19.91:1).

white 19.91 AAblack 1.01 failsbanding high

Get started

hover

active

label ink passes AA on all three

css

linear-gradient(180deg in oklch shorter hue, #090909 0%, #010101 100%)

tailwind v4

bg-linear-to-b/oklch from-[#090909] to-[#010101]

Variants

Tonal ramp

Open in maker →

white 10.86 AAblack 1.00 failsbanding medium

css

linear-gradient(135deg in oklch shorter hue, #3d3d3d 0%, #000000 100%)

tailwind v4

bg-linear-to-br/oklch from-[#3d3d3d] to-[#000000]

Analogous

Open in maker →

Primary #000000 is achromatic — harmony rotates #0071f1 instead. Partner hue from the analogous rule at the source colour's lightness.

white 4.28 AA largeblack 4.62 AAbanding high

css

linear-gradient(135deg in oklab, #0071f1 0%, #0084ac 100%)

tailwind v4

bg-linear-to-br/oklab from-[#0071f1] to-[#0084ac]

Complementary

Open in maker →

Primary #000000 is achromatic — harmony rotates #0071f1 instead. Partner hue from the complementary rule at the source colour's lightness. ΔH 180° > 140° — interpolating in oklch (shorter hue) keeps the midpoint saturated.

white 3.94 AA largeblack 4.63 AAbanding medium

css

linear-gradient(135deg in oklch shorter hue, #0071f1 0%, #9f6e00 100%)

tailwind v4

bg-linear-to-br/oklch from-[#0071f1] to-[#9f6e00]

Triadic

Open in maker →

Primary #000000 is achromatic — harmony rotates #0071f1 instead. Partner hue from the triadic rule at the source colour's lightness.

white 4.51 AAblack 4.20 AA largebanding medium

css

linear-gradient(135deg in oklab, #0071f1 0%, #df0042 100%)

tailwind v4

bg-linear-to-br/oklab from-[#0071f1] to-[#df0042]

Report — brand gradient

white ink: worst 4.53:1 at 100% (AA); black ink: worst 1.00:1 at 0% (fails AA) → use white text.
Black text disappears completely at 0% (1.00:1 crossing).
Banding medium: ~6px bands at 1440px — add grain 10 (≈1% soft-light noise) or shorten the ramp.

Export

The custom properties below are byte-identical to the gradient block in brand.css; the DTCG token is what tokens.json carries.

css custom properties · brand.css

:root {
  /* Brand gradient (derived) */
  /* worst-case contrast: white 4.53:1 AA, black 1.00:1 */
  --brand-gradient: linear-gradient(135deg in oklab, #000000 0%, #0071f1 100%);
  /* hero — worst-case contrast: white 4.58:1 AA, black 1.00:1; ink passes AA at the worst point */
  --brand-gradient-hero: linear-gradient(135deg in oklab, #000000 0%, #5a77a1 100%);
  --brand-gradient-hero-ink: #ffffff;
  /* button — worst-case contrast: white 19.91:1 AA, black 1.01:1 */
  --brand-gradient-button: linear-gradient(180deg in oklch shorter hue, #090909 0%, #010101 100%);
  --brand-gradient-button-hover: linear-gradient(180deg in oklch shorter hue, #090909 0%, #010101 100%);
  --brand-gradient-button-active: linear-gradient(180deg in oklch shorter hue, #090909 0%, #010101 100%);
  --brand-gradient-button-ink: #ffffff;
}

svg · brand gradient

<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="1440" height="600" viewBox="0 0 1440 600"><defs><linearGradient id="bs-gradient" gradientUnits="userSpaceOnUse" x1="210" y1="-210" x2="1230" y2="810"><stop offset="0%" stop-color="#000000"/><stop offset="7.14%" stop-color="#000001"/><stop offset="14.29%" stop-color="#000208"/><stop offset="21.43%" stop-color="#000517"/><stop offset="28.57%" stop-color="#000d27"/><stop offset="35.71%" stop-color="#001538"/><stop offset="42.86%" stop-color="#001e4a"/><stop offset="50%" stop-color="#00275d"/><stop offset="57.14%" stop-color="#003171"/><stop offset="64.29%" stop-color="#003b85"/><stop offset="71.43%" stop-color="#004599"/><stop offset="78.57%" stop-color="#0050af"/><stop offset="85.71%" stop-color="#005bc4"/><stop offset="92.86%" stop-color="#0066da"/><stop offset="100%" stop-color="#0071f1"/></linearGradient></defs><rect width="1440" height="600" fill="url(#bs-gradient)"/></svg>

dtcg · tokens.json

{
  "gradient": {
    "brand": {
      "$type": "gradient",
      "$value": [
        {
          "color": {
            "colorSpace": "srgb",
            "components": [
              0,
              0,
              0
            ],
            "hex": "#000000"
          },
          "position": 0
        },
        {
          "color": {
            "colorSpace": "srgb",
            "components": [
              0,
              0.443,
              0.945
            ],
            "hex": "#0071f1"
          },
          "position": 1
        }
      ],
      "$extensions": {
        "com.brandsweets": {
          "kind": "linear",
          "css": "linear-gradient(135deg in oklab, #000000 0%, #0071f1 100%)",
          "interpolation": "oklab",
          "angle": 135,
          "name": "brand",
          "contrast": {
            "white": {
              "ratio": 4.533,
              "at": 1,
              "passesAA": true,
              "passesAALarge": true
            },
            "black": {
              "ratio": 1,
              "at": 0,
              "passesAA": false,
              "passesAALarge": false
            },
            "suggestedInk": "#ffffff"
          }
        }
      },
      "$description": "The canonical brand gradient (--brand-gradient)."
    },
    "hero": {
      "$type": "gradient",
      "$value": [
        {
          "color": {
            "colorSpace": "srgb",
            "components": [
              0,
              0,
              0
            ],
            "hex": "#000000"
          },
          "position": 0
        },
        {
          "color": {
            "colorSpace": "srgb",
            "components": [
              0.353,
              0.467,
              0.631
            ],
            "hex": "#5a77a1"
          },
          "position": 1
        }
      ],
      "$extensions": {
        "com.brandsweets": {
          "kind": "linear",
          "css": "linear-gradient(135deg in oklab, #000000 0%, #5a77a1 100%)",
          "interpolation": "oklab",
          "angle": 135,
          "name": "hero",
          "ink": "#ffffff",
          "contrast": {
            "white": {
              "ratio": 4.577,
              "at": 1,
              "passesAA": true,
              "passesAALarge": true
            },
            "black": {
              "ratio": 1,
              "at": 0,
              "passesAA": false,
              "passesAALarge": false
            },
            "suggestedInk": "#ffffff"
          }
        }
      },
      "$description": "Low-chroma hero background with a text-safe ink (--brand-gradient-hero)."
    },
    "button": {
      "$type": "gradient",
      "$value": [
        {
          "color": {
            "colorSpace": "srgb",
            "components": [
              0.035,
              0.035,
              0.035
            ],
            "hex": "#090909"
          },
          "position": 0
        },
        {
          "color": {
            "colorSpace": "srgb",
            "components": [
              0.004,
              0.004,
              0.004
            ],
            "hex": "#010101"
          },
          "position": 1
        }
      ],
      "$extensions": {
        "com.brandsweets": {
          "kind": "linear",
          "css": "linear-gradient(180deg in oklch shorter hue, #090909 0%, #010101 100%)",
          "interpolation": "oklch",
          "hue": "shorter",
          "angle": 180,
          "name": "button",
          "ink": "#ffffff",
          "states": {
            "hover": "linear-gradient(180deg in oklch shorter hue, #090909 0%, #010101 100%)",
            "active": "linear-gradient(180deg in oklch shorter hue, #090909 0%, #010101 100%)"
          },
          "contrast": {
            "white": {
              "ratio": 19.912,
              "at": 0,
              "passesAA": true,
              "passesAALarge": true
            },
            "black": {
              "ratio": 1.006,
              "at": 0.873,
              "passesAA": false,
              "passesAALarge": false
            },
            "suggestedInk": "#ffffff"
          }
        }
      },
      "$description": "Button / CTA surface with hover and active states (--brand-gradient-button)."
    }
  }
}

Colours

#000000 #0071f1 #0000ee

mcpConnect your agent — BBC's gradients on demand

live endpoint

Point any MCP client at the shared gradients endpoint and your agent gets the same engine as this page — make_gradient returns CSS with the interpolation space, Tailwind v4, SVG, a PNG URL, a DTCG token and the contrast report in one call; brand_gradients derives the whole contact sheet from a brand or a palette. Read-only, no key. Every gradient is a /gradients/new/… link: open it, refine, paste it back.

endpointhttps://mcp.brandsweets.com/gradients/mcp

claude mcp add --transport http brandsweets-gradients https://mcp.brandsweets.com/gradients/mcp

try this prompt

›brand_gradients for bbc-com — give me the hero CSS and the ink that passes AA, then a version in oklch

Want the agent to remember your picks and write them into a living brand? Create a free BrandSweets workspace.

BBC and its marks belong to their owner. This page uses the name nominatively to describe gradients derived from the brand's published colour values; it does not reproduce logos or other brand assets, and it is not affiliated with or endorsed by BBC. Owner of this brand? Request a correction or removal → Machine-readable: gradients.md