Brand gradient
NASA gradient
The gradient NASA'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
- nasa.gov
- Extracted
- Version
- 4
Hero and button
Hero background
Open in maker →Chroma ×0.35 so it can carry text; ink white (inkFor at the midpoint). L shifted −0.08 until the ink passes AA at the worst point (4.60:1).
linear-gradient(135deg in oklab, #212c48 0%, #a36559 100%)
bg-linear-to-br/oklab from-[#212c48] to-[#a36559]
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 7.40:1).
linear-gradient(180deg in oklch shorter hue, #18499e 0%, #003184 100%)
bg-linear-to-b/oklch from-[#18499e] to-[#003184]
Variants
Tonal ramp
Open in maker →linear-gradient(135deg in oklch shorter hue, #4073cc 0%, #0b3d91 50%, #000059 100%)
bg-linear-to-br/oklch from-[#4073cc] via-[#0b3d91] to-[#000059]
Analogous
Open in maker →Partner hue from the analogous rule at the source colour's lightness.
linear-gradient(135deg in oklab, #0b3d91 0%, #0f4a62 100%)
bg-linear-to-br/oklab from-[#0b3d91] to-[#0f4a62]
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.
linear-gradient(135deg in oklch shorter hue, #0b3d91 0%, #583f0d 100%)
bg-linear-to-br/oklch from-[#0b3d91] to-[#583f0d]
Triadic
Open in maker →Partner hue from the triadic rule at the source colour's lightness.
linear-gradient(135deg in oklab, #0b3d91 0%, #7e1221 100%)
bg-linear-to-br/oklab from-[#0b3d91] to-[#7e1221]
Report — brand gradient
- white ink: worst 3.60:1 at 100% (AA-large only); black ink: worst 2.09:1 at 0% (fails AA) → use white text.
- Body text fails AA everywhere on this gradient; large text (≥24px / 19px bold) is fine. Add a scrim or lower the chroma for body copy.
- 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.
:root {
/* Brand gradient (derived) */
/* worst-case contrast: white 3.60:1 AA-large, black 2.09:1 */
--brand-gradient: linear-gradient(135deg in oklab, #0b3d91 0%, #fc3d21 100%);
/* hero — worst-case contrast: white 4.60:1 AA, black 1.52:1; ink passes AA at the worst point */
--brand-gradient-hero: linear-gradient(135deg in oklab, #212c48 0%, #a36559 100%);
--brand-gradient-hero-ink: #ffffff;
/* button — worst-case contrast: white 8.45:1 AA, black 1.77:1 */
--brand-gradient-button: linear-gradient(180deg in oklch shorter hue, #18499e 0%, #003184 100%);
--brand-gradient-button-hover: linear-gradient(180deg in oklch shorter hue, #2152a8 0%, #073a8e 100%);
--brand-gradient-button-active: linear-gradient(180deg in oklch shorter hue, #0e4094 0%, #00287b 100%);
--brand-gradient-button-ink: #ffffff;
}<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="#0b3d91"/><stop offset="7.14%" stop-color="#29428d"/><stop offset="14.29%" stop-color="#3c4788"/><stop offset="21.43%" stop-color="#4e4b84"/><stop offset="28.57%" stop-color="#5f4e7f"/><stop offset="35.71%" stop-color="#6f507a"/><stop offset="42.86%" stop-color="#7e5274"/><stop offset="50%" stop-color="#8e526e"/><stop offset="57.14%" stop-color="#9e5368"/><stop offset="64.29%" stop-color="#ad5260"/><stop offset="71.43%" stop-color="#bd5058"/><stop offset="78.57%" stop-color="#cd4e4f"/><stop offset="85.71%" stop-color="#dc4a44"/><stop offset="92.86%" stop-color="#ec4436"/><stop offset="100%" stop-color="#fc3d21"/></linearGradient></defs><rect width="1440" height="600" fill="url(#bs-gradient)"/></svg>
{
"gradient": {
"brand": {
"$type": "gradient",
"$value": [
{
"color": {
"colorSpace": "srgb",
"components": [
0.043,
0.239,
0.569
],
"hex": "#0b3d91"
},
"position": 0
},
{
"color": {
"colorSpace": "srgb",
"components": [
0.988,
0.239,
0.129
],
"hex": "#fc3d21"
},
"position": 1
}
],
"$extensions": {
"com.brandsweets": {
"kind": "linear",
"css": "linear-gradient(135deg in oklab, #0b3d91 0%, #fc3d21 100%)",
"interpolation": "oklab",
"angle": 135,
"name": "brand",
"contrast": {
"white": {
"ratio": 3.603,
"at": 1,
"passesAA": false,
"passesAALarge": true
},
"black": {
"ratio": 2.091,
"at": 0,
"passesAA": false,
"passesAALarge": false
},
"suggestedInk": "#ffffff"
}
}
},
"$description": "The canonical brand gradient (--brand-gradient)."
},
"hero": {
"$type": "gradient",
"$value": [
{
"color": {
"colorSpace": "srgb",
"components": [
0.129,
0.173,
0.282
],
"hex": "#212c48"
},
"position": 0
},
{
"color": {
"colorSpace": "srgb",
"components": [
0.639,
0.396,
0.349
],
"hex": "#a36559"
},
"position": 1
}
],
"$extensions": {
"com.brandsweets": {
"kind": "linear",
"css": "linear-gradient(135deg in oklab, #212c48 0%, #a36559 100%)",
"interpolation": "oklab",
"angle": 135,
"name": "hero",
"ink": "#ffffff",
"contrast": {
"white": {
"ratio": 4.602,
"at": 1,
"passesAA": true,
"passesAALarge": true
},
"black": {
"ratio": 1.519,
"at": 0,
"passesAA": false,
"passesAALarge": false
},
"suggestedInk": "#ffffff"
}
}
},
"$description": "Low-chroma hero background with a text-safe ink (--brand-gradient-hero)."
},
"button": {
"$type": "gradient",
"$value": [
{
"color": {
"colorSpace": "srgb",
"components": [
0.094,
0.286,
0.62
],
"hex": "#18499e"
},
"position": 0
},
{
"color": {
"colorSpace": "srgb",
"components": [
0,
0.192,
0.518
],
"hex": "#003184"
},
"position": 1
}
],
"$extensions": {
"com.brandsweets": {
"kind": "linear",
"css": "linear-gradient(180deg in oklch shorter hue, #18499e 0%, #003184 100%)",
"interpolation": "oklch",
"hue": "shorter",
"angle": 180,
"name": "button",
"ink": "#ffffff",
"states": {
"hover": "linear-gradient(180deg in oklch shorter hue, #2152a8 0%, #073a8e 100%)",
"active": "linear-gradient(180deg in oklch shorter hue, #0e4094 0%, #00287b 100%)"
},
"contrast": {
"white": {
"ratio": 8.449,
"at": 0,
"passesAA": true,
"passesAALarge": true
},
"black": {
"ratio": 1.773,
"at": 0.9841,
"passesAA": false,
"passesAALarge": false
},
"suggestedInk": "#ffffff"
}
}
},
"$description": "Button / CTA surface with hover and active states (--brand-gradient-button)."
}
}
}Colours
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.
https://mcp.brandsweets.com/gradients/mcpclaude mcp add --transport http brandsweets-gradients https://mcp.brandsweets.com/gradients/mcp
›brand_gradients for nasa-gov — give me the hero CSS and the ink that passes AA, then a version in oklch
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NASA 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 NASA. Owner of this brand? Request a correction or removal → Machine-readable: gradients.md