OKLCH, Explained for Designers

OKLCH is an innovative color space that represents a significant advancement in how designers and developers think about color. Standing for Oklab Lightness, Chroma, and Hue, it offers a more intuitive and perceptually uniform approach to color representation.

Why Designers Should Care

Traditional color spaces like RGB and HSL have fundamental limitations that affect design workflows:

RGB uses hexcodes that are not human-friendly or intuitive
HSL has inconsistent contrast across different hues, making systematic color design challenging
Limited color gamut restricts the vibrancy and range of available colors

OKLCH solves these problems by providing a color space that aligns more closely with human color perception while offering practical benefits for design systems.

Key Benefits for Designers

1. Perceptual Uniformity

OKLCH ensures color transitions feel more natural and consistent. When adjusting lightness and chroma values, colors maintain a consistent visual feel across different hues. This makes it easier to create harmonious color palettes and predictable color variations.

2. Easier Color System Design

Designers can create more consistent color scales with significantly less effort. The mathematical properties of OKLCH allow for dynamic color calculations that maintain visual consistency:

/* Dynamic color variation using CSS relative color syntax */
oklch(from var(--color-blue) calc(l/2 + .2) c h)

This enables systematic approach to generating color variations for hover states, accessibility improvements, and theming.

3. Wider Color Gamut

OKLCH supports P3 color compatibility, providing access to approximately 30% more colors than traditional RGB color spaces. This means more vibrant and nuanced color choices, especially important for modern high-quality displays.

4. Future-Proof Color Design

As web standards evolve and display technology improves, OKLCH positions designers at the forefront of color technology, ensuring designs remain cutting-edge and visually stunning.

Practical Implementation

CSS Integration

Modern CSS supports OKLCH natively with fallbacks:

.button {
  /* Fallback for older browsers */
  background-color: rgb(59, 130, 246);
  
  /* OKLCH for modern browsers */
  background-color: oklch(0.6 0.15 250);
}

Design Tool Compatibility

While OKLCH support in design tools is growing, you can:

Use online OKLCH color pickers like OKLCH.com
Experiment with Chrome DevTools’ native OKLCH support
Try the OKLCH Color Variations Figma Plugin

Current Limitations

Limited native app support: Not yet fully integrated in iOS/Android development frameworks
Design tool adoption: Professional tools like Adobe Creative Suite are still catching up
Display hardware: Most desktop monitors still operate in sRGB color space

Getting Started with OKLCH

Start with fallbacks: Always provide RGB fallbacks for maximum compatibility
Experiment: Use Chrome DevTools to explore OKLCH color adjustments
Build systematically: Create color systems using OKLCH’s mathematical properties
Test across devices: Ensure designs work on both sRGB and P3 displays

The Future of Color Design

OKLCH represents a fundamental shift toward more intuitive, powerful, and perceptually accurate color design. As browser support improves and design tools integrate OKLCH capabilities, it will become an essential skill for forward-thinking designers.

Whether you’re building design systems, creating digital experiences, or pushing the boundaries of visual design, OKLCH offers the tools to create more beautiful, accessible, and technically sophisticated color implementations.

Resources

The future of web color is here, and OKLCH is leading the way toward more intuitive, powerful, and beautiful color design.