Brand gradient

Discover gradient

The gradient Discover'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.

Extracted
Version
2
Verified from the live site at discover.com on 2 September 2026 (version 2).
Discover
white text · worst 5.23:1 · AA
white 5.23 AAblack 1.38 failsbanding medium

Hero and button

Aa

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 (5.23:1) without adjusting L.

white 5.23 AAblack 1.40 failsbanding medium
css
linear-gradient(135deg in oklab, #25262f 0%, #586f83 100%)
tailwind v4
bg-linear-to-br/oklab from-[#25262f] to-[#586f83]
Aa

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 11.82:1).

white 13.24 AAblack 1.23 failsbanding high
Get started
hover
active
label ink passes AA on all three
css
linear-gradient(180deg in oklch shorter hue, #2d2d4a 0%, #1a1934 100%)
tailwind v4
bg-linear-to-b/oklch from-[#2d2d4a] to-[#1a1934]

Variants

Aa
white 7.50 AAblack 1.01 failsbanding high
css
linear-gradient(135deg in oklch shorter hue, #515272 0%, #23233f 50%, #020011 100%)
tailwind v4
bg-linear-to-br/oklch from-[#515272] via-[#23233f] to-[#020011]
Aa

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

white 14.91 AAblack 1.38 failsbanding high
css
linear-gradient(135deg in oklab, #23233f 0%, #1d2833 100%)
tailwind v4
bg-linear-to-br/oklab from-[#23233f] to-[#1d2833]
Aa

Complementary

Open in maker →

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 14.78 AAblack 1.38 failsbanding high
css
linear-gradient(135deg in oklch shorter hue, #23233f 0%, #28271d 100%)
tailwind v4
bg-linear-to-br/oklch from-[#23233f] to-[#28271d]
Aa

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

white 15.00 AAblack 1.38 failsbanding high
css
linear-gradient(135deg in oklab, #23233f 0%, #32231d 100%)
tailwind v4
bg-linear-to-br/oklab from-[#23233f] to-[#32231d]

Report — brand gradient

  • white ink: worst 5.23:1 at 100% (AA); black ink: worst 1.38:1 at 0% (fails AA) → use white text.
  • Banding medium: ~13px bands at 1440px — add grain 28 (≈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 5.23:1 AA, black 1.38:1 */
  --brand-gradient: linear-gradient(135deg in oklab, #23233f 0%, #1e71ac 100%);
  /* hero — worst-case contrast: white 5.23:1 AA, black 1.40:1; ink passes AA at the worst point */
  --brand-gradient-hero: linear-gradient(135deg in oklab, #25262f 0%, #586f83 100%);
  --brand-gradient-hero-ink: #ffffff;
  /* button — worst-case contrast: white 13.24:1 AA, black 1.23:1 */
  --brand-gradient-button: linear-gradient(180deg in oklch shorter hue, #2d2d4a 0%, #1a1934 100%);
  --brand-gradient-button-hover: linear-gradient(180deg in oklch shorter hue, #343552 0%, #21213c 100%);
  --brand-gradient-button-active: linear-gradient(180deg in oklch shorter hue, #252542 0%, #13122d 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="#23233f"/><stop offset="7.14%" stop-color="#242846"/><stop offset="14.29%" stop-color="#262d4d"/><stop offset="21.43%" stop-color="#273355"/><stop offset="28.57%" stop-color="#27385c"/><stop offset="35.71%" stop-color="#283d64"/><stop offset="42.86%" stop-color="#28436b"/><stop offset="50%" stop-color="#284873"/><stop offset="57.14%" stop-color="#284e7b"/><stop offset="64.29%" stop-color="#285483"/><stop offset="71.43%" stop-color="#275a8b"/><stop offset="78.57%" stop-color="#255f93"/><stop offset="85.71%" stop-color="#24659b"/><stop offset="92.86%" stop-color="#216ba4"/><stop offset="100%" stop-color="#1e71ac"/></linearGradient></defs><rect width="1440" height="600" fill="url(#bs-gradient)"/></svg>
dtcg · tokens.json
{
  "gradient": {
    "brand": {
      "$type": "gradient",
      "$value": [
        {
          "color": {
            "colorSpace": "srgb",
            "components": [
              0.137,
              0.137,
              0.247
            ],
            "hex": "#23233f"
          },
          "position": 0
        },
        {
          "color": {
            "colorSpace": "srgb",
            "components": [
              0.118,
              0.443,
              0.675
            ],
            "hex": "#1e71ac"
          },
          "position": 1
        }
      ],
      "$extensions": {
        "com.brandsweets": {
          "kind": "linear",
          "css": "linear-gradient(135deg in oklab, #23233f 0%, #1e71ac 100%)",
          "interpolation": "oklab",
          "angle": 135,
          "name": "brand",
          "contrast": {
            "white": {
              "ratio": 5.233,
              "at": 1,
              "passesAA": true,
              "passesAALarge": true
            },
            "black": {
              "ratio": 1.384,
              "at": 0,
              "passesAA": false,
              "passesAALarge": false
            },
            "suggestedInk": "#ffffff"
          }
        }
      },
      "$description": "The canonical brand gradient (--brand-gradient)."
    },
    "hero": {
      "$type": "gradient",
      "$value": [
        {
          "color": {
            "colorSpace": "srgb",
            "components": [
              0.145,
              0.149,
              0.184
            ],
            "hex": "#25262f"
          },
          "position": 0
        },
        {
          "color": {
            "colorSpace": "srgb",
            "components": [
              0.345,
              0.435,
              0.514
            ],
            "hex": "#586f83"
          },
          "position": 1
        }
      ],
      "$extensions": {
        "com.brandsweets": {
          "kind": "linear",
          "css": "linear-gradient(135deg in oklab, #25262f 0%, #586f83 100%)",
          "interpolation": "oklab",
          "angle": 135,
          "name": "hero",
          "ink": "#ffffff",
          "contrast": {
            "white": {
              "ratio": 5.228,
              "at": 1,
              "passesAA": true,
              "passesAALarge": true
            },
            "black": {
              "ratio": 1.397,
              "at": 0,
              "passesAA": false,
              "passesAALarge": false
            },
            "suggestedInk": "#ffffff"
          }
        }
      },
      "$description": "Low-chroma hero background with a text-safe ink (--brand-gradient-hero)."
    },
    "button": {
      "$type": "gradient",
      "$value": [
        {
          "color": {
            "colorSpace": "srgb",
            "components": [
              0.176,
              0.176,
              0.29
            ],
            "hex": "#2d2d4a"
          },
          "position": 0
        },
        {
          "color": {
            "colorSpace": "srgb",
            "components": [
              0.102,
              0.098,
              0.204
            ],
            "hex": "#1a1934"
          },
          "position": 1
        }
      ],
      "$extensions": {
        "com.brandsweets": {
          "kind": "linear",
          "css": "linear-gradient(180deg in oklch shorter hue, #2d2d4a 0%, #1a1934 100%)",
          "interpolation": "oklch",
          "hue": "shorter",
          "angle": 180,
          "name": "button",
          "ink": "#ffffff",
          "states": {
            "hover": "linear-gradient(180deg in oklch shorter hue, #343552 0%, #21213c 100%)",
            "active": "linear-gradient(180deg in oklch shorter hue, #252542 0%, #13122d 100%)"
          },
          "contrast": {
            "white": {
              "ratio": 13.242,
              "at": 0,
              "passesAA": true,
              "passesAALarge": true
            },
            "black": {
              "ratio": 1.233,
              "at": 0.9841,
              "passesAA": false,
              "passesAALarge": false
            },
            "suggestedInk": "#ffffff"
          }
        }
      },
      "$description": "Button / CTA surface with hover and active states (--brand-gradient-button)."
    }
  }
}

Colours

mcpConnect your agent — Discover'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 discover-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.

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