Brand gradient

Chipotle gradient

The gradient Chipotle'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.

#ac241c #441404 #a76721

Open in the maker Chipotle colors →Full brand page →food

Source: chipotle.com
Extracted: 2 September 2026
Version: 2

Chipotle

white text · worst 6.95:1 · AA

white 6.95 AAblack 1.35 failsbanding medium

Hero and button

Hero background

Open in maker →

Chroma ×0.35 so it can carry text; ink white (inkFor at the midpoint). Passes AA for that ink at the worst point (6.57:1) without adjusting L.

white 6.57 AAblack 1.37 failsbanding medium

css

linear-gradient(135deg in oklab, #7e524c 0%, #32211c 100%)

tailwind v4

bg-linear-to-br/oklab from-[#7e524c] to-[#32211c]

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 5.14:1).

white 5.84 AAblack 2.54 failsbanding high

Get started

hover

active

label ink passes AA on all three

css

linear-gradient(180deg in oklch shorter hue, #ba3329 0%, #9e110d 100%)

tailwind v4

bg-linear-to-b/oklch from-[#ba3329] to-[#9e110d]

Variants

Tonal ramp

Open in maker →

white 3.28 AA largeblack 1.56 failsbanding high

css

linear-gradient(135deg in oklch shorter hue, #eb6253 0%, #ac241c 50%, #660000 100%)

tailwind v4

bg-linear-to-br/oklch from-[#eb6253] via-[#ac241c] to-[#660000]

Analogous

Open in maker →

Partner hue from the analogous rule at the source colour's lightness.

white 6.92 AAblack 2.98 failsbanding high

css

linear-gradient(135deg in oklab, #ac241c 0%, #a5225e 100%)

tailwind v4

bg-linear-to-br/oklab from-[#ac241c] to-[#a5225e]

Complementary

Open in maker →

Partner hue from the complementary rule at the source colour's lightness. ΔH 179° > 140° — interpolating in oklch (shorter hue) keeps the midpoint saturated.

white 6.00 AAblack 3.02 AA largebanding high

css

linear-gradient(135deg in oklch shorter hue, #ac241c 0%, #206b75 100%)

tailwind v4

bg-linear-to-br/oklch from-[#ac241c] to-[#206b75]

Triadic

Open in maker →

Partner hue from the triadic rule at the source colour's lightness.

white 6.01 AAblack 3.01 AA largebanding high

css

linear-gradient(135deg in oklab, #ac241c 0%, #207137 100%)

tailwind v4

bg-linear-to-br/oklab from-[#ac241c] to-[#207137]

Report — brand gradient

white ink: worst 6.95:1 at 0% (AA); black ink: worst 1.35:1 at 100% (fails AA) → use white text.
Banding medium: ~14px bands at 1440px — add grain 29 (≈2% 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 6.95:1 AA, black 1.35:1 */
  --brand-gradient: linear-gradient(135deg in oklab, #ac241c 0%, #441404 100%);
  /* hero — worst-case contrast: white 6.57:1 AA, black 1.37:1; ink passes AA at the worst point */
  --brand-gradient-hero: linear-gradient(135deg in oklab, #7e524c 0%, #32211c 100%);
  --brand-gradient-hero-ink: #ffffff;
  /* button — worst-case contrast: white 5.84:1 AA, black 2.54:1 */
  --brand-gradient-button: linear-gradient(180deg in oklch shorter hue, #ba3329 0%, #9e110d 100%);
  --brand-gradient-button-hover: linear-gradient(180deg in oklch shorter hue, #c43e32 0%, #a92019 100%);
  --brand-gradient-button-active: linear-gradient(180deg in oklch shorter hue, #af281f 0%, #940000 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="#ac241c"/><stop offset="7.14%" stop-color="#a4231a"/><stop offset="14.29%" stop-color="#9c2218"/><stop offset="21.43%" stop-color="#942116"/><stop offset="28.57%" stop-color="#8d2014"/><stop offset="35.71%" stop-color="#851f12"/><stop offset="42.86%" stop-color="#7d1e11"/><stop offset="50%" stop-color="#761d0f"/><stop offset="57.14%" stop-color="#6f1c0d"/><stop offset="64.29%" stop-color="#671b0b"/><stop offset="71.43%" stop-color="#601909"/><stop offset="78.57%" stop-color="#591808"/><stop offset="85.71%" stop-color="#521706"/><stop offset="92.86%" stop-color="#4b1505"/><stop offset="100%" stop-color="#441404"/></linearGradient></defs><rect width="1440" height="600" fill="url(#bs-gradient)"/></svg>

dtcg · tokens.json

{
  "gradient": {
    "brand": {
      "$type": "gradient",
      "$value": [
        {
          "color": {
            "colorSpace": "srgb",
            "components": [
              0.675,
              0.141,
              0.11
            ],
            "hex": "#ac241c"
          },
          "position": 0
        },
        {
          "color": {
            "colorSpace": "srgb",
            "components": [
              0.267,
              0.078,
              0.016
            ],
            "hex": "#441404"
          },
          "position": 1
        }
      ],
      "$extensions": {
        "com.brandsweets": {
          "kind": "linear",
          "css": "linear-gradient(135deg in oklab, #ac241c 0%, #441404 100%)",
          "interpolation": "oklab",
          "angle": 135,
          "name": "brand",
          "contrast": {
            "white": {
              "ratio": 6.946,
              "at": 0,
              "passesAA": true,
              "passesAALarge": true
            },
            "black": {
              "ratio": 1.348,
              "at": 1,
              "passesAA": false,
              "passesAALarge": false
            },
            "suggestedInk": "#ffffff"
          }
        }
      },
      "$description": "The canonical brand gradient (--brand-gradient)."
    },
    "hero": {
      "$type": "gradient",
      "$value": [
        {
          "color": {
            "colorSpace": "srgb",
            "components": [
              0.494,
              0.322,
              0.298
            ],
            "hex": "#7e524c"
          },
          "position": 0
        },
        {
          "color": {
            "colorSpace": "srgb",
            "components": [
              0.196,
              0.129,
              0.11
            ],
            "hex": "#32211c"
          },
          "position": 1
        }
      ],
      "$extensions": {
        "com.brandsweets": {
          "kind": "linear",
          "css": "linear-gradient(135deg in oklab, #7e524c 0%, #32211c 100%)",
          "interpolation": "oklab",
          "angle": 135,
          "name": "hero",
          "ink": "#ffffff",
          "contrast": {
            "white": {
              "ratio": 6.566,
              "at": 0,
              "passesAA": true,
              "passesAALarge": true
            },
            "black": {
              "ratio": 1.37,
              "at": 1,
              "passesAA": false,
              "passesAALarge": false
            },
            "suggestedInk": "#ffffff"
          }
        }
      },
      "$description": "Low-chroma hero background with a text-safe ink (--brand-gradient-hero)."
    },
    "button": {
      "$type": "gradient",
      "$value": [
        {
          "color": {
            "colorSpace": "srgb",
            "components": [
              0.729,
              0.2,
              0.161
            ],
            "hex": "#ba3329"
          },
          "position": 0
        },
        {
          "color": {
            "colorSpace": "srgb",
            "components": [
              0.62,
              0.067,
              0.051
            ],
            "hex": "#9e110d"
          },
          "position": 1
        }
      ],
      "$extensions": {
        "com.brandsweets": {
          "kind": "linear",
          "css": "linear-gradient(180deg in oklch shorter hue, #ba3329 0%, #9e110d 100%)",
          "interpolation": "oklch",
          "hue": "shorter",
          "angle": 180,
          "name": "button",
          "ink": "#ffffff",
          "states": {
            "hover": "linear-gradient(180deg in oklch shorter hue, #c43e32 0%, #a92019 100%)",
            "active": "linear-gradient(180deg in oklch shorter hue, #af281f 0%, #940000 100%)"
          },
          "contrast": {
            "white": {
              "ratio": 5.844,
              "at": 0,
              "passesAA": true,
              "passesAALarge": true
            },
            "black": {
              "ratio": 2.54,
              "at": 1,
              "passesAA": false,
              "passesAALarge": false
            },
            "suggestedInk": "#ffffff"
          }
        }
      },
      "$description": "Button / CTA surface with hover and active states (--brand-gradient-button)."
    }
  }
}

Colours

#ac241c #441404 #a76721

mcpConnect your agent — Chipotle'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 chipotle-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.

Chipotle 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 Chipotle. Owner of this brand? Request a correction or removal → Machine-readable: gradients.md