Colour · Japanese method · 1933
A Dictionary of Color Combinations
Wada Sanzō, 1933–34
Published by Seigensha Art Publishing.
Reissued in 2011.
Wada Sanzō (1883–1967) was a Japanese kimono designer, teacher and artist who lived through the tension between Japan's pictorial tradition and the Western influence that arrived with the Meiji era. He studied painting at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts and spent decades observing how colours relate to one another.
Between 1933 and 1934 he published six volumes of colour studies. It was not a theory book. It was a practical catalogue for textile designers: every combination came from direct observation of fabrics, nature and Japanese art.
The most honest way to work with colour is to document what works, not to explain why it works.
Wada died in 1967, known only in Japan. The book was out of print for decades until Seigensha reissued it in 2011. Within a few years it went from collector's rarity to a staple reference in design studios in New York, London and Stockholm.
It didn't need marketing. It needed the internet. Pinterest and Tumblr spread its pages of combinations and the design world adopted them at once. A work from 1933 became contemporary because its decisions were timeless.
Wada's logic can be summed up in four relationships between colours, all based on their position on the colour wheel:
01
Complementary
Opposite colours on the wheel. Maximum contrast. Strong visual impact. Hard to get wrong if the proportions are well balanced.
02
Analogous
Neighbouring colours. A natural, warm harmony. It is the relationship we find most often in nature. It creates welcoming, coherent spaces.
03
Triadic
Three colours evenly spaced on the wheel. Vibrant balance. Works well when one of the three dominates and the other two act as accents.
04
Split-complementary
A sophisticated variant of the complementary. Less tension, more elegance. Wada's favourite for three-colour combinations in textiles.
Acustika acoustic panels are available in 17 colours of recycled PET. We have applied Wada's method to this palette to offer you combinations that work — not because of trends, but because of colour harmony proven over decades.
Each colour has its own complementary, analogous and triadic partners within the palette. The simulator lets you explore them in real time and see how the combination would look on a front panel and on the two-tone edge.