Synthwave is as much a colour scheme as a style. Neon pink and cyan on black. A purple sky over a glowing grid. It is instantly recognisable, and it is surprisingly easy to bring into a room, as long as you know which colours to use and how much of each.
Below are five palettes, with hex codes you can use to set smart lights, choose paint, pick accessories or build a matching desktop wallpaper. Each has a note on proportions and on artwork that fits.
Each colour is shown as a swatch with its HEX, RGB and CMYK codes. A word on the codes. A hex code describes a colour on a screen. Paint, fabric and printed art will never match a screen exactly, and LED lights vary by brand. Treat these as targets, not guarantees. CMYK values are an approximate conversion for print projects.
How to use a palette in a room
Every palette here has a dark base, one or two main colours and an accent. Use them in roughly these proportions.
- Base, about 60 percent: walls, desk, large furniture. In synthwave this is nearly always black, charcoal or deep navy.
- Main colour, about 30 percent: lighting, a large piece of art, a desk mat, bedding.
- Accent, about 10 percent: small objects, a second light, details.
We explain the thinking in the 60-30-10 colour rule. If you rent and your walls are white, they become the base, and the dark comes from furniture and art.
1. Classic neon: pink and cyan
| Role | Colour | Colour codes |
|---|---|---|
| Base | Near-black |
HEX #0D0221 RGB 13, 2, 33 CMYK 61, 94, 0, 87 |
| Main | Hot pink |
HEX #FF2A6D RGB 255, 42, 109 CMYK 0, 84, 57, 0 |
| Main | Electric cyan |
HEX #05D9E8 RGB 5, 217, 232 CMYK 98, 6, 0, 9 |
| Accent | Deep violet |
HEX #7A04EB RGB 122, 4, 235 CMYK 48, 98, 0, 8 |
The definitive synthwave scheme. Pink and cyan are far apart on the colour wheel, so each makes the other brighter. Use one as the main light and the other as a smaller accent, not half and half. We explain why they work together in our post on magenta and cyan.
Art that fits: Blue Fox in Space, with its pink sky and cyan shards. Trippy Holographic.
2. Purple haze: violet and magenta
| Role | Colour | Colour codes |
|---|---|---|
| Base | Black |
HEX #0A0A0F RGB 10, 10, 15 CMYK 33, 33, 0, 94 |
| Main | Violet |
HEX #8A2BE2 RGB 138, 43, 226 CMYK 39, 81, 0, 11 |
| Main | Magenta |
HEX #E0349F RGB 224, 52, 159 CMYK 0, 77, 29, 12 |
| Accent | Pale pink |
HEX #FFB3EC RGB 255, 179, 236 CMYK 0, 30, 7, 0 |
All the colours sit next to each other, so the result is smooth and moody. This is the most popular setup palette of recent years, and the easiest to live with for long hours, because nothing in it clashes.
Art that fits: Purple Pink Wormhole is an exact match. Hand of the Stars adds a subject in the same violet and pink.
3. Grid runner: teal and deep blue
| Role | Colour | Colour codes |
|---|---|---|
| Base | Midnight blue |
HEX #0B1026 RGB 11, 16, 38 CMYK 71, 58, 0, 85 |
| Main | Teal |
HEX #1BC7B1 RGB 27, 199, 177 CMYK 86, 0, 11, 22 |
| Main | Deep blue |
HEX #1E3A8A RGB 30, 58, 138 CMYK 78, 58, 0, 46 |
| Accent | Ice white |
HEX #DDF6FF RGB 221, 246, 255 CMYK 13, 4, 0, 0 |
The cool, clean version, with no pink at all. It reads as futuristic and calm, and it is a good choice for a work desk that doubles as a gaming desk.
Art that fits: Cyber Wave Escape, a glowing teal wireframe grid running to the horizon on deep blue. It comes as a desk mat too.
4. Red light district: red and pink
| Role | Colour | Colour codes |
|---|---|---|
| Base | Black |
HEX #0B0508 RGB 11, 5, 8 CMYK 0, 55, 27, 96 |
| Main | Neon red |
HEX #FF1744 RGB 255, 23, 68 CMYK 0, 91, 73, 0 |
| Main | Hot pink |
HEX #FF4FA3 RGB 255, 79, 163 CMYK 0, 69, 36, 0 |
| Accent | Amber |
HEX #FF9E3D RGB 255, 158, 61 CMYK 0, 38, 76, 0 |
Warm, intense and a little dangerous. Red light is harder on the eyes for reading, so keep it dim and use it as mood lighting, with a neutral lamp for when you need to see properly.
Art that fits: Japanese City Punk FX.3, an alley soaked in red and pink neon.
5. Sunset drive: orange and blue
| Role | Colour | Colour codes |
|---|---|---|
| Base | Deep navy |
HEX #0F1A3C RGB 15, 26, 60 CMYK 75, 57, 0, 76 |
| Main | Royal blue |
HEX #2B5BD7 RGB 43, 91, 215 CMYK 80, 58, 0, 16 |
| Main | Sunset orange |
HEX #FF6B2C RGB 255, 107, 44 CMYK 0, 58, 83, 0 |
| Accent | Violet |
HEX #9D7CFF RGB 157, 124, 255 CMYK 38, 51, 0, 0 |
Orange and blue are direct opposites. It is the highest-contrast palette here and the most cinematic. Let blue lead and keep orange small. A little goes a long way.
Art that fits: Japanese City Punk FX.2 Koi Attack, with orange koi against blue towers.
A sixth option: monochrome with one neon
| Role | Colour | Colour codes |
|---|---|---|
| Base | Black |
HEX #000000 RGB 0, 0, 0 CMYK 0, 0, 0, 100 |
| Main | Silver grey |
HEX #C8CCD4 RGB 200, 204, 212 CMYK 6, 4, 0, 17 |
| Accent | Any one neon | Your choice |
For people who find full synthwave too much. Black, white and grey, with a single line of colour. Black Hole and CRT Lion Retro Wave suit it.
Tips for making it work
- Pick one palette and stay in it. Mixing two is how setups end up looking like a rainbow.
- Let one colour lead. Two neon colours at equal strength compete.
- Keep the base dark and plain. Neon needs black to glow.
- Dim the lights. Neon at full brightness is harsh. Low and saturated looks better than bright.
- Match the art to the lights, or let the art choose the palette for you. See choosing a desk mat by colour scheme and desk mat and wall art pairings.
- Keep a white light for real tasks. Coloured light distorts everything you look at under it.
For the background on the style itself, see vaporwave vs synthwave vs outrun. Browse the posters and desk mats collections to build your palette.