Brand gradient

Tim Hortons gradient

The gradient Tim Hortons'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.

#3f2021 #d0142c #0000ee

Open in the maker Tim Hortons colors →Full brand page →food-bev

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

Tim Hortons

white text · worst 5.50:1 · AA

white 5.50 AAblack 1.44 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 (5.11:1) without adjusting L.

white 5.11 AAblack 1.46 failsbanding medium

css

linear-gradient(135deg in oklab, #322727 0%, #975f5c 100%)

tailwind v4

bg-linear-to-br/oklab from-[#322727] to-[#975f5c]

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 11.28:1).

white 12.67 AAblack 1.27 failsbanding high

Get started

hover

active

label ink passes AA on all three

css

linear-gradient(180deg in oklch shorter hue, #4a2a2b 0%, #341618 100%)

tailwind v4

bg-linear-to-b/oklch from-[#4a2a2b] to-[#341618]

Variants

Tonal ramp

Open in maker →

white 7.13 AAblack 1.02 failsbanding high

css

linear-gradient(135deg in oklch shorter hue, #724f4f 0%, #3f2021 50%, #100001 100%)

tailwind v4

bg-linear-to-br/oklch from-[#724f4f] via-[#3f2021] to-[#100001]

Analogous

Open in maker →

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

white 14.55 AAblack 1.43 failsbanding high

css

linear-gradient(135deg in oklab, #3f2021 0%, #3d1f2e 100%)

tailwind v4

bg-linear-to-br/oklab from-[#3f2021] to-[#3d1f2e]

Complementary

Open in maker →

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 14.04 AAblack 1.44 failsbanding high

css

linear-gradient(135deg in oklch shorter hue, #3f2021 0%, #1e2e2e 100%)

tailwind v4

bg-linear-to-br/oklch from-[#3f2021] to-[#1e2e2e]

Triadic

Open in maker →

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

white 14.07 AAblack 1.43 failsbanding high

css

linear-gradient(135deg in oklab, #3f2021 0%, #212f1d 100%)

tailwind v4

bg-linear-to-br/oklab from-[#3f2021] to-[#212f1d]

Report — brand gradient

white ink: worst 5.50:1 at 100% (AA); black ink: worst 1.44:1 at 0% (fails AA) → use white text.
Banding medium: ~10px bands at 1440px — add grain 21 (≈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 5.50:1 AA, black 1.44:1 */
  --brand-gradient: linear-gradient(135deg in oklab, #3f2021 0%, #d0142c 100%);
  /* hero — worst-case contrast: white 5.11:1 AA, black 1.46:1; ink passes AA at the worst point */
  --brand-gradient-hero: linear-gradient(135deg in oklab, #322727 0%, #975f5c 100%);
  --brand-gradient-hero-ink: #ffffff;
  /* button — worst-case contrast: white 12.67:1 AA, black 1.27:1 */
  --brand-gradient-button: linear-gradient(180deg in oklch shorter hue, #4a2a2b 0%, #341618 100%);
  --brand-gradient-button-hover: linear-gradient(180deg in oklch shorter hue, #523232 0%, #3c1e1f 100%);
  --brand-gradient-button-active: linear-gradient(180deg in oklch shorter hue, #422223 0%, #2c0f11 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="#3f2021"/><stop offset="7.14%" stop-color="#492122"/><stop offset="14.29%" stop-color="#522324"/><stop offset="21.43%" stop-color="#5c2425"/><stop offset="28.57%" stop-color="#662426"/><stop offset="35.71%" stop-color="#702527"/><stop offset="42.86%" stop-color="#7a2528"/><stop offset="50%" stop-color="#852529"/><stop offset="57.14%" stop-color="#8f2429"/><stop offset="64.29%" stop-color="#9a232a"/><stop offset="71.43%" stop-color="#a4222b"/><stop offset="78.57%" stop-color="#af202b"/><stop offset="85.71%" stop-color="#ba1d2c"/><stop offset="92.86%" stop-color="#c5192c"/><stop offset="100%" stop-color="#d0142c"/></linearGradient></defs><rect width="1440" height="600" fill="url(#bs-gradient)"/></svg>

dtcg · tokens.json

{
  "gradient": {
    "brand": {
      "$type": "gradient",
      "$value": [
        {
          "color": {
            "colorSpace": "srgb",
            "components": [
              0.247,
              0.125,
              0.129
            ],
            "hex": "#3f2021"
          },
          "position": 0
        },
        {
          "color": {
            "colorSpace": "srgb",
            "components": [
              0.816,
              0.078,
              0.173
            ],
            "hex": "#d0142c"
          },
          "position": 1
        }
      ],
      "$extensions": {
        "com.brandsweets": {
          "kind": "linear",
          "css": "linear-gradient(135deg in oklab, #3f2021 0%, #d0142c 100%)",
          "interpolation": "oklab",
          "angle": 135,
          "name": "brand",
          "contrast": {
            "white": {
              "ratio": 5.5,
              "at": 1,
              "passesAA": true,
              "passesAALarge": true
            },
            "black": {
              "ratio": 1.44,
              "at": 0,
              "passesAA": false,
              "passesAALarge": false
            },
            "suggestedInk": "#ffffff"
          }
        }
      },
      "$description": "The canonical brand gradient (--brand-gradient)."
    },
    "hero": {
      "$type": "gradient",
      "$value": [
        {
          "color": {
            "colorSpace": "srgb",
            "components": [
              0.196,
              0.153,
              0.153
            ],
            "hex": "#322727"
          },
          "position": 0
        },
        {
          "color": {
            "colorSpace": "srgb",
            "components": [
              0.592,
              0.373,
              0.361
            ],
            "hex": "#975f5c"
          },
          "position": 1
        }
      ],
      "$extensions": {
        "com.brandsweets": {
          "kind": "linear",
          "css": "linear-gradient(135deg in oklab, #322727 0%, #975f5c 100%)",
          "interpolation": "oklab",
          "angle": 135,
          "name": "hero",
          "ink": "#ffffff",
          "contrast": {
            "white": {
              "ratio": 5.113,
              "at": 1,
              "passesAA": true,
              "passesAALarge": true
            },
            "black": {
              "ratio": 1.455,
              "at": 0,
              "passesAA": false,
              "passesAALarge": false
            },
            "suggestedInk": "#ffffff"
          }
        }
      },
      "$description": "Low-chroma hero background with a text-safe ink (--brand-gradient-hero)."
    },
    "button": {
      "$type": "gradient",
      "$value": [
        {
          "color": {
            "colorSpace": "srgb",
            "components": [
              0.29,
              0.165,
              0.169
            ],
            "hex": "#4a2a2b"
          },
          "position": 0
        },
        {
          "color": {
            "colorSpace": "srgb",
            "components": [
              0.204,
              0.086,
              0.094
            ],
            "hex": "#341618"
          },
          "position": 1
        }
      ],
      "$extensions": {
        "com.brandsweets": {
          "kind": "linear",
          "css": "linear-gradient(180deg in oklch shorter hue, #4a2a2b 0%, #341618 100%)",
          "interpolation": "oklch",
          "hue": "shorter",
          "angle": 180,
          "name": "button",
          "ink": "#ffffff",
          "states": {
            "hover": "linear-gradient(180deg in oklch shorter hue, #523232 0%, #3c1e1f 100%)",
            "active": "linear-gradient(180deg in oklch shorter hue, #422223 0%, #2c0f11 100%)"
          },
          "contrast": {
            "white": {
              "ratio": 12.672,
              "at": 0,
              "passesAA": true,
              "passesAALarge": true
            },
            "black": {
              "ratio": 1.274,
              "at": 0.9841,
              "passesAA": false,
              "passesAALarge": false
            },
            "suggestedInk": "#ffffff"
          }
        }
      },
      "$description": "Button / CTA surface with hover and active states (--brand-gradient-button)."
    }
  }
}

Colours

#3f2021 #d0142c #0000ee

mcpConnect your agent — Tim Hortons'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 timhortons-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.

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