Memphis color interpretation

Tokyo Memphis

Japanese Memphis: kawaii meets Sottsass in Harajuku

This is one of several color interpretations commonly associated with Memphis.

Part of the Playfulness & Joy mood, alongside Kidcore and Corporate Memphis. Began in the 1980s, on the style timeline.

Omoro Spectrolab · Color Analysis Sampling Live
PaletteTokyo Memphis
Batch039-TM
Pigments0 / 5 Sampled
MoodJapanese Memphis: kawa
Drawdown Recordtap a pull to copy hex
Omoro Color Laboratory - Drawdown Record039-TM / 5 PULLS

japanese memphis: kawaii meets sottsass in harajuku

Sampled Pigment- - - - - -
Awaiting SampleRGB - · - · -
● SENSOR OKHEX COPIED ✓
Export Tray - Digitized SwatchesEMPTY
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On a photo
Memphis plate1 / 5
Hex Reference
#181818Outline
#FF80C8J-Pop Pink
#80C8FFSky Pastel
#FFE880Pale Lemon
#F8F8F8Paper White
Color Psychology

Outline sets the weight of the palette in authority and sophistication, and J-Pop Pink is the swatch that breaks rank: a single pink that stops the set reading as one note. Outline to Paper White spans 88 points of lightness, so the palette can carry its own hierarchy without reaching for a second one. There is nothing between 9 and 75 percent lightness, so the palette jumps from dark to light with no midtone to build a border or a divider from.

authoritysophisticationpowergravitycompassiontenderness
Outline#181818

Outline reads as pure authority: sophistication, power, and the visual weight that makes everything placed near it feel more serious.

J-Pop Pink#FF80C8

J-Pop Pink a hot, saturated pink: playful, confident, deliberately unserious.

Sky Pastel#80C8FF

Sky Pastel an electric or cobalt blue: trust with real conviction, confident rather than passive.

Pale Lemon#FFE880

Pale Lemon an electric, high-visibility yellow: caution and euphoria share the same wavelength here.

Paper White#F8F8F8

Paper White reads as purity and openness, the color of empty space, clarity, and things left deliberately unresolved.

The Aesthetic

80s Italian design movement with geometric patterns, terrazzo, and bold colors

Explore the full Memphis style guideIts decade on the timeline · 1980s
More Memphis Interpretations
Memphis
Squiggle pattern - postmodern and playful
Memphis Pastel
Knowing irony in pastel: squiggle and dot against black
Sotsass
1981 Memphis launch: Ettore Sotsass and the anti-good-taste
Postmodern Soft
Diluted Memphis: squiggle faded through a decade of nostalgia
Related Palettes
Post-Modernism
Maximalism
Bauhaus
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About This Palette
What colors are in the Tokyo Memphis color palette?

5 colors, calibrated to work as one system.

The swatches

  1. Outline: #181818
  2. J-Pop Pink: #FF80C8
  3. Sky Pastel: #80C8FF
  4. Pale Lemon: #FFE880
  5. Paper White: #F8F8F8
What mood does the Tokyo Memphis color palette convey?

Japanese Memphis: kawaii meets Sottsass in Harajuku

Is Tokyo Memphis related to Memphis?

Yes. Tokyo Memphis is one of several color interpretations commonly associated with the Memphis aesthetic. Each interpretation captures a distinct emotional register within the same visual world.

What are the hex codes for the Tokyo Memphis palette?

Hex codes

  1. #181818
  2. #FF80C8
  3. #80C8FF
  4. #FFE880
  5. #F8F8F8

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