Split-complementary
One hue plus the two neighbors of its opposite, keeping complementary tension while giving you a gentler and more flexible three-color set.
See it
What it is
A split-complementary scheme starts with one hue, finds its opposite, then uses the two neighbors on either side of that opposite instead. On an RGB/HSL wheel, a common split is the base at H plus accents near H plus 150 and H plus 210 degrees. The three points draw a narrow Y shape across the wheel.
Reach for it when an ordinary complementary pair has the right energy but feels too blunt. The two accents keep the warm-cool tension while giving illustrations, dashboards, and brand systems more room to assign separate roles. Let the base dominate and divide smaller jobs between the split colors.
Gotcha: the split is not a license to give all three hues equal volume. The two accents can fight each other unless their area and chroma differ. Offsets also vary by wheel and by how wide a split you choose, so record the color space and angles rather than handing off only the scheme name.
Ask AI for it
Create a split-complementary palette on the RGB/HSL wheel. Convert the current primary to CSS hsl(), call its hue H, and derive accents at H plus 150 and H plus 210 degrees, wrapping at 360. Use the base across 70% of the composition, the quieter accent across 20%, and the stronger accent across 10%. Separate all three with OKLCH lightness as well as hue, return CSS custom properties and hex fallbacks, and verify every text pair with the WCAG 2.2 contrast formula.