Brand gradient

Cisco gradient

The gradient Cisco'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.

Source
cisco.com
Extracted
Version
3
Verified from the live site at cisco.com on 2 September 2026 (version 3).
Cisco
white text · worst 5.08:1 · AA
white 5.08 AAblack 1.18 failsbanding medium

Hero and button

Aa

Hero background

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Chroma ×0.35 so it can carry text; ink white (inkFor at the midpoint). Passes AA for that ink at the worst point (4.83:1) without adjusting L.

white 4.83 AAblack 1.18 failsbanding medium
css
linear-gradient(135deg in oklab, #13181f 0%, #5672a5 100%)
tailwind v4
bg-linear-to-br/oklab from-[#13181f] to-[#5672a5]
Aa

Button / CTA

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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 14.73:1).

white 16.08 AAblack 1.09 failsbanding high
Get started
hover
active
label ink passes AA on all three
css
linear-gradient(180deg in oklch shorter hue, #102237 0%, #010f23 100%)
tailwind v4
bg-linear-to-b/oklch from-[#102237] to-[#010f23]

Variants

Aa
white 9.64 AAblack 1.00 failsbanding high
css
linear-gradient(135deg in oklch shorter hue, #33465e 0%, #07182d 50%, #000007 100%)
tailwind v4
bg-linear-to-br/oklch from-[#33465e] via-[#07182d] to-[#000007]
Aa

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

white 17.73 AAblack 1.18 failsbanding high
css
linear-gradient(135deg in oklab, #07182d 0%, #081a21 100%)
tailwind v4
bg-linear-to-br/oklab from-[#07182d] to-[#081a21]
Aa

Complementary

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Partner hue from the complementary rule at the source colour's lightness. ΔH 178° > 140° — interpolating in oklch (shorter hue) keeps the midpoint saturated.

white 17.45 AAblack 1.18 failsbanding high
css
linear-gradient(135deg in oklch shorter hue, #07182d 0%, #201607 100%)
tailwind v4
bg-linear-to-br/oklch from-[#07182d] to-[#201607]
Aa

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

white 17.80 AAblack 1.16 failsbanding high
css
linear-gradient(135deg in oklab, #07182d 0%, #2d090f 100%)
tailwind v4
bg-linear-to-br/oklab from-[#07182d] to-[#2d090f]

Report — brand gradient

  • white ink: worst 5.08:1 at 100% (AA); black ink: worst 1.18:1 at 0% (fails AA) → use white text.
  • Banding medium: ~7px bands at 1440px — add grain 13 (≈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 5.08:1 AA, black 1.18:1 */
  --brand-gradient: linear-gradient(135deg in oklab, #07182d 0%, #0a60ff 100%);
  /* hero — worst-case contrast: white 4.83:1 AA, black 1.18:1; ink passes AA at the worst point */
  --brand-gradient-hero: linear-gradient(135deg in oklab, #13181f 0%, #5672a5 100%);
  --brand-gradient-hero-ink: #ffffff;
  /* button — worst-case contrast: white 16.08:1 AA, black 1.09:1 */
  --brand-gradient-button: linear-gradient(180deg in oklch shorter hue, #102237 0%, #010f23 100%);
  --brand-gradient-button-hover: linear-gradient(180deg in oklch shorter hue, #17293f 0%, #05162a 100%);
  --brand-gradient-button-active: linear-gradient(180deg in oklch shorter hue, #091a30 0%, #00081b 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="#07182d"/><stop offset="7.14%" stop-color="#081d3a"/><stop offset="14.29%" stop-color="#082247"/><stop offset="21.43%" stop-color="#092755"/><stop offset="28.57%" stop-color="#092c63"/><stop offset="35.71%" stop-color="#0a3171"/><stop offset="42.86%" stop-color="#0a3680"/><stop offset="50%" stop-color="#0a3b8f"/><stop offset="57.14%" stop-color="#0b419e"/><stop offset="64.29%" stop-color="#0b46ae"/><stop offset="71.43%" stop-color="#0b4bbd"/><stop offset="78.57%" stop-color="#0b50cd"/><stop offset="85.71%" stop-color="#0b55de"/><stop offset="92.86%" stop-color="#0a5bee"/><stop offset="100%" stop-color="#0a60ff"/></linearGradient></defs><rect width="1440" height="600" fill="url(#bs-gradient)"/></svg>
dtcg · tokens.json
{
  "gradient": {
    "brand": {
      "$type": "gradient",
      "$value": [
        {
          "color": {
            "colorSpace": "srgb",
            "components": [
              0.027,
              0.094,
              0.176
            ],
            "hex": "#07182d"
          },
          "position": 0
        },
        {
          "color": {
            "colorSpace": "srgb",
            "components": [
              0.039,
              0.376,
              1
            ],
            "hex": "#0a60ff"
          },
          "position": 1
        }
      ],
      "$extensions": {
        "com.brandsweets": {
          "kind": "linear",
          "css": "linear-gradient(135deg in oklab, #07182d 0%, #0a60ff 100%)",
          "interpolation": "oklab",
          "angle": 135,
          "name": "brand",
          "contrast": {
            "white": {
              "ratio": 5.085,
              "at": 1,
              "passesAA": true,
              "passesAALarge": true
            },
            "black": {
              "ratio": 1.178,
              "at": 0,
              "passesAA": false,
              "passesAALarge": false
            },
            "suggestedInk": "#ffffff"
          }
        }
      },
      "$description": "The canonical brand gradient (--brand-gradient)."
    },
    "hero": {
      "$type": "gradient",
      "$value": [
        {
          "color": {
            "colorSpace": "srgb",
            "components": [
              0.075,
              0.094,
              0.122
            ],
            "hex": "#13181f"
          },
          "position": 0
        },
        {
          "color": {
            "colorSpace": "srgb",
            "components": [
              0.337,
              0.447,
              0.647
            ],
            "hex": "#5672a5"
          },
          "position": 1
        }
      ],
      "$extensions": {
        "com.brandsweets": {
          "kind": "linear",
          "css": "linear-gradient(135deg in oklab, #13181f 0%, #5672a5 100%)",
          "interpolation": "oklab",
          "angle": 135,
          "name": "hero",
          "ink": "#ffffff",
          "contrast": {
            "white": {
              "ratio": 4.832,
              "at": 1,
              "passesAA": true,
              "passesAALarge": true
            },
            "black": {
              "ratio": 1.178,
              "at": 0,
              "passesAA": false,
              "passesAALarge": false
            },
            "suggestedInk": "#ffffff"
          }
        }
      },
      "$description": "Low-chroma hero background with a text-safe ink (--brand-gradient-hero)."
    },
    "button": {
      "$type": "gradient",
      "$value": [
        {
          "color": {
            "colorSpace": "srgb",
            "components": [
              0.063,
              0.133,
              0.216
            ],
            "hex": "#102237"
          },
          "position": 0
        },
        {
          "color": {
            "colorSpace": "srgb",
            "components": [
              0.004,
              0.059,
              0.137
            ],
            "hex": "#010f23"
          },
          "position": 1
        }
      ],
      "$extensions": {
        "com.brandsweets": {
          "kind": "linear",
          "css": "linear-gradient(180deg in oklch shorter hue, #102237 0%, #010f23 100%)",
          "interpolation": "oklch",
          "hue": "shorter",
          "angle": 180,
          "name": "button",
          "ink": "#ffffff",
          "states": {
            "hover": "linear-gradient(180deg in oklch shorter hue, #17293f 0%, #05162a 100%)",
            "active": "linear-gradient(180deg in oklch shorter hue, #091a30 0%, #00081b 100%)"
          },
          "contrast": {
            "white": {
              "ratio": 16.08,
              "at": 0,
              "passesAA": true,
              "passesAALarge": true
            },
            "black": {
              "ratio": 1.094,
              "at": 0.9841,
              "passesAA": false,
              "passesAALarge": false
            },
            "suggestedInk": "#ffffff"
          }
        }
      },
      "$description": "Button / CTA surface with hover and active states (--brand-gradient-button)."
    }
  }
}

Colours

mcpConnect your agent — Cisco'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 cisco-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.

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