Ao & White 青と白

About this combination

In classical Japanese, ao covered a range from blue to green — what a modern eye would call teal. This palette pairs that ancestral ao with shiro, a bright white, for a look that reads as cleanly contemporary while staying rooted.

Where it works

• Modern minimal branding
• Editorial with generous whitespace
• Tech with a soft edge

Historical context

This palette is inspired by the tradition of Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations, which cataloged combinations drawn from centuries of Japanese cultural life. The specific colors here use traditional shikisai names that have been in the public domain for generations.