HSL is easier to manipulate than RGB or hex when you want predictable shifts. To darken a color, drop the lightness. To desaturate, drop the saturation. To rotate the hue, change H. The palette generator does all its math in HSL for this reason and only converts to hex on export.
Color glossary
HSL Color
A color model that describes a color by hue, saturation, and lightness rather than red, green, blue channels.
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Primary Color
The signature hue that identifies a brand and drives main CTAs and navigation surfaces.
Secondary Color
A supporting hue that complements the primary, used for less critical UI like tags, secondary buttons, and chart series.
Accent Color
A high-saturation contrast color used sparingly to emphasize one or two elements per screen.
WCAG Contrast Ratio
The luminance ratio between two colors, used by the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines to measure legibility.
Monochrome Palette
A palette built from a single hue, varying only saturation and lightness.
Analogous Palette
Three colors adjacent on the color wheel, typically within 30 degrees of each other.