Brand gradient

YouTube gradient

The gradient YouTube'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.

#ff0000 #282828 #065fd4

Open in the maker YouTube colors →Full brand page →Online video / media

Source: youtube.com
Extracted: 2 September 2026
Version: 4

YouTube

white text · worst 4.00:1 · AA large

white 4.00 AA largeblack 1.42 failsbanding medium

Hero and button

Hero background

Open in maker →

Chroma ×0.35 so it can carry text; ink white (inkFor at the midpoint). L shifted −0.06 until the ink passes AA at the worst point (4.68:1).

white 4.68 AAblack 1.23 failsbanding medium

css

linear-gradient(135deg in oklab, #a76157 0%, #1c1c1c 100%)

tailwind v4

bg-linear-to-br/oklab from-[#a76157] to-[#1c1c1c]

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. L shifted −0.09 so white ink gets as close as the ±0.1 bound allows to AA on the surface and both states (worst 4.24:1). Ink is below AA (4.24:1 at the worst point) — use it for large text only, or pick a darker/lighter primary for buttons.

white 4.60 AAblack 3.29 AA largebanding high

Get started

hover

active

label ink below AA — large text only

css

linear-gradient(180deg in oklch shorter hue, #ec0000 0%, #c20000 100%)

tailwind v4

bg-linear-to-b/oklch from-[#ec0000] to-[#c20000]

Variants

Tonal ramp

Open in maker →

white 1.99 failsblack 2.69 failsbanding high

css

linear-gradient(135deg in oklch shorter hue, #ff9e8e 0%, #ff0000 50%, #a90000 100%)

tailwind v4

bg-linear-to-br/oklch from-[#ff9e8e] via-[#ff0000] to-[#a90000]

Analogous

Open in maker →

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

white 3.98 AA largeblack 5.17 AAbanding high

css

linear-gradient(135deg in oklab, #ff0000 0%, #f40084 100%)

tailwind v4

bg-linear-to-br/oklab from-[#ff0000] to-[#f40084]

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 3.36 AA largeblack 5.23 AAbanding medium

css

linear-gradient(135deg in oklch shorter hue, #ff0000 0%, #009aac 100%)

tailwind v4

bg-linear-to-br/oklch from-[#ff0000] to-[#009aac]

Triadic

Open in maker →

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

white 3.27 AA largeblack 5.24 AAbanding medium

css

linear-gradient(135deg in oklab, #ff0000 0%, #00a447 100%)

tailwind v4

bg-linear-to-br/oklab from-[#ff0000] to-[#00a447]

Report — brand gradient

white ink: worst 4.00:1 at 0% (AA-large only); black ink: worst 1.42:1 at 100% (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: ~7px bands at 1440px — add grain 12 (≈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.

css custom properties · brand.css

:root {
  /* Brand gradient (derived) */
  /* worst-case contrast: white 4.00:1 AA-large, black 1.42:1 */
  --brand-gradient: linear-gradient(135deg in oklab, #ff0000 0%, #282828 100%);
  /* hero — worst-case contrast: white 4.68:1 AA, black 1.23:1; ink passes AA at the worst point */
  --brand-gradient-hero: linear-gradient(135deg in oklab, #a76157 0%, #1c1c1c 100%);
  --brand-gradient-hero-ink: #ffffff;
  /* button — worst-case contrast: white 4.60:1 AA, black 3.29:1 AA-large */
  --brand-gradient-button: linear-gradient(180deg in oklch shorter hue, #ec0000 0%, #c20000 100%);
  --brand-gradient-button-hover: linear-gradient(180deg in oklch shorter hue, #f70000 0%, #d20000 100%);
  --brand-gradient-button-active: linear-gradient(180deg in oklch shorter hue, #dc0000 0%, #b30000 100%);
  --brand-gradient-button-ink: #ffffff;
  /* button ink: 4.2:1 — below AA */
}

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="#ff0000"/><stop offset="7.14%" stop-color="#ef170f"/><stop offset="14.29%" stop-color="#de2218"/><stop offset="21.43%" stop-color="#ce281d"/><stop offset="28.57%" stop-color="#be2c21"/><stop offset="35.71%" stop-color="#af2f24"/><stop offset="42.86%" stop-color="#9f3127"/><stop offset="50%" stop-color="#903228"/><stop offset="57.14%" stop-color="#813229"/><stop offset="64.29%" stop-color="#72322a"/><stop offset="71.43%" stop-color="#63312a"/><stop offset="78.57%" stop-color="#54302a"/><stop offset="85.71%" stop-color="#462d2a"/><stop offset="92.86%" stop-color="#372b29"/><stop offset="100%" stop-color="#282828"/></linearGradient></defs><rect width="1440" height="600" fill="url(#bs-gradient)"/></svg>

dtcg · tokens.json

{
  "gradient": {
    "brand": {
      "$type": "gradient",
      "$value": [
        {
          "color": {
            "colorSpace": "srgb",
            "components": [
              1,
              0,
              0
            ],
            "hex": "#ff0000"
          },
          "position": 0
        },
        {
          "color": {
            "colorSpace": "srgb",
            "components": [
              0.157,
              0.157,
              0.157
            ],
            "hex": "#282828"
          },
          "position": 1
        }
      ],
      "$extensions": {
        "com.brandsweets": {
          "kind": "linear",
          "css": "linear-gradient(135deg in oklab, #ff0000 0%, #282828 100%)",
          "interpolation": "oklab",
          "angle": 135,
          "name": "brand",
          "contrast": {
            "white": {
              "ratio": 3.998,
              "at": 0,
              "passesAA": false,
              "passesAALarge": true
            },
            "black": {
              "ratio": 1.424,
              "at": 1,
              "passesAA": false,
              "passesAALarge": false
            },
            "suggestedInk": "#ffffff"
          }
        }
      },
      "$description": "The canonical brand gradient (--brand-gradient)."
    },
    "hero": {
      "$type": "gradient",
      "$value": [
        {
          "color": {
            "colorSpace": "srgb",
            "components": [
              0.655,
              0.38,
              0.341
            ],
            "hex": "#a76157"
          },
          "position": 0
        },
        {
          "color": {
            "colorSpace": "srgb",
            "components": [
              0.11,
              0.11,
              0.11
            ],
            "hex": "#1c1c1c"
          },
          "position": 1
        }
      ],
      "$extensions": {
        "com.brandsweets": {
          "kind": "linear",
          "css": "linear-gradient(135deg in oklab, #a76157 0%, #1c1c1c 100%)",
          "interpolation": "oklab",
          "angle": 135,
          "name": "hero",
          "ink": "#ffffff",
          "contrast": {
            "white": {
              "ratio": 4.676,
              "at": 0,
              "passesAA": true,
              "passesAALarge": true
            },
            "black": {
              "ratio": 1.232,
              "at": 1,
              "passesAA": false,
              "passesAALarge": false
            },
            "suggestedInk": "#ffffff"
          }
        }
      },
      "$description": "Low-chroma hero background with a text-safe ink (--brand-gradient-hero)."
    },
    "button": {
      "$type": "gradient",
      "$value": [
        {
          "color": {
            "colorSpace": "srgb",
            "components": [
              0.925,
              0,
              0
            ],
            "hex": "#ec0000"
          },
          "position": 0
        },
        {
          "color": {
            "colorSpace": "srgb",
            "components": [
              0.761,
              0,
              0
            ],
            "hex": "#c20000"
          },
          "position": 1
        }
      ],
      "$extensions": {
        "com.brandsweets": {
          "kind": "linear",
          "css": "linear-gradient(180deg in oklch shorter hue, #ec0000 0%, #c20000 100%)",
          "interpolation": "oklch",
          "hue": "shorter",
          "angle": 180,
          "name": "button",
          "ink": "#ffffff",
          "states": {
            "hover": "linear-gradient(180deg in oklch shorter hue, #f70000 0%, #d20000 100%)",
            "active": "linear-gradient(180deg in oklch shorter hue, #dc0000 0%, #b30000 100%)"
          },
          "contrast": {
            "white": {
              "ratio": 4.599,
              "at": 0,
              "passesAA": true,
              "passesAALarge": true
            },
            "black": {
              "ratio": 3.294,
              "at": 1,
              "passesAA": false,
              "passesAALarge": true
            },
            "suggestedInk": "#ffffff"
          }
        }
      },
      "$description": "Button / CTA surface with hover and active states (--brand-gradient-button)."
    }
  }
}

Colours

#ff0000 #282828 #065fd4

mcpConnect your agent — YouTube'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 youtube-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.

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