182 lines
7.1 KiB
Markdown
182 lines
7.1 KiB
Markdown
# Monobiome
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`monobiome` is a minimal, balanced color palette for use in terminals and text editors. It
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was designed in OKLCH space to achieve perceptual uniformity across all hues at various
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levels of luminance, and does so for _four_ monotone bases and _five_ accent colors. Each
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of the monotone base colors (named according to a natural biome whose colors they loosely
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resemble) are designed to achieve identical contrast with the accents, and thus any one of
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the four can be selected to change the feeling of the palette without sacrificing
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readability.
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_(Preview of default light and dark theme variants)_
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See screenshots for the full set of theme variants in [THEMES](THEMES.md) (also discussed
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below).
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The name "monobiome" connects the palette to its two key sources of inspiration:
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- `mono-`: `monobiome` is inspired by the [`monoindustrial` theme][1], and attempts to extend
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and balance its accents while retaining similar color identities.
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- `-biome`: the desire for several distinct monotone options entailed finding a way to ground the
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subtle color variations that were needed, and I liked the idea of tying the choices to
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naturally occurring environmental variation like Earth's biomes (even if it is a very
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loose affiliation, e.g., green-ish = grass, basically).
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## Palette
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The `monobiome` palette consists of four monotone bases and five accent colors, each of
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which is anchored by hue and spread uniformly across lightness levels 15 to 95 (in OKLCH
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space).
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The chroma curve for each accent is carefully designed to vary smoothly across the
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lightness spectrum, with the goal of retaining strong color identity in all settings.
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Additionally, as alluded to above, the (WCAG 2) contrast ratio between any choice of
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monotone background at a given lightness level and the accent colors is virtually
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identical ($\pm 0.1$). Put another way, the relative contrast between accents depends only
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on the _lightness_ of the background monotone, not its hue.
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## Concrete themes
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_(Default light theme variants)_
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_(Default dark theme variants)_
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Themes are derived from the `monobiome` palette by varying both the monotone hue (the
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"biome") and the extent of the background/foreground lightness (the "harshness"). This is
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done for both light and dark schemes, and in each case accent colors are selected at a
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lightness level that ensures each meet a minimum contrast relative to the primary
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background. The following diagram shows each of the 24 resulting combinations:
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The "soft" harshness level uses monotone shades closer to the mid-shade (lightness level
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55), whereas "hard" harshness uses shades further from it. Once the biome and harshness
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level are chosen, we're left with a bounded monotone range over which common theme
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elements can be defined. For example, the following demonstrates how background and
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foreground elements are chosen for the `monobiome` Vim themes:
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Note how theme elements are mapped onto the general identifiers `bg0-bg3` for backgrounds,
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`fg0-fg3` for foregrounds, and `gray` for a central gray tone. The relative properties
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(lightness differences, contrast ratios) between colors assigned to these identifiers are
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preserved regardless of biome or harshness (e.g., `bg3` and `grey` are _always_ separated
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by 20 lightness points in any theme). As a result, applying `monobiome` themes to specific
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applications can effectively boil down to defining a single "relative template" that uses
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these identifiers, after which any of the 24 theme options can applied immediately.
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Read more about how themes are created in [DESIGN](DESIGN.md).
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# Usage
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This repo provides the 24 theme files for `kitty`, `vim`/`neovim`, [`vim-airline`][2], and
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`fzf` in the `apps/` directory. You can also find raw palette colors in
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`colors/monobiome.toml` if you want to use them to define themes for other applications.
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Each of the files in the `apps/` directory are named according to
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```sh
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<harshness>-<biome>-monobiome-<mode>.<config>
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```
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For example, `soft-tundra-monobiome-dark.vim` is the Vim theme file for the dark `tundra`
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variant with the soft harshness level.
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## `kitty`
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Find `kitty` themes in `apps/kitty`. Themes can be activated in your `kitty.conf` with
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```sh
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include <theme-file>
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```
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## `vim`/`neovim`
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Find `vim`/`neovim` themes in `apps/nvim`. Themes can be activated by placing a theme file
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on Vim's runtime path and setting it in your `.vimrc`/`init.vim` with
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```sh
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colorscheme <theme-name>
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```
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## `vim-airline`
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If you use [`vim-airline`][2], you can find statusline themes in `apps/vim-airline`.
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Place a theme file in the `airline` theme folder, and activate it in
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your `.vimrc`/`init.vim` with
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```sh
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let g:airline_theme='<theme-name>'
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```
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## `fzf`
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In `apps/fzf`, you can find scripts that can be ran to export FZF theme variables. In your
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shell config (e.g., `.bashrc` or `.zshrc`), you can source these files to apply them in
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your terminal:
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```sh
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source <theme-file>
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```
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# Switching themes
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[`symconf`][3] is a general-purpose application config manager that can be used to
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generate all `monobiome` variants from a single palette file, and set themes for all apps
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at once. You can find example theme templates in `apps/symconf` which provide general
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theme variables you can use in your own config templates.
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For instance, in an app like `kitty`, you can define a template like
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```conf
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# base settings
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background f{{theme.term.background}}
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foreground f{{theme.term.foreground}}
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selection_background f{{theme.term.selection_bg}}
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selection_foreground f{{theme.term.selection_fg}}
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cursor f{{theme.term.cursor}}
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cursor_text_color f{{theme.term.cursor_text_color}}
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# black
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color0 f{{theme.term.normal.black}}
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color8 f{{theme.term.bright.black}}
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# red
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color1 f{{theme.term.normal.red}}
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color9 f{{theme.term.bright.red}}
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# green
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color2 f{{theme.term.normal.green}}
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color10 f{{theme.term.bright.green}}
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# yellow
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color3 f{{theme.term.normal.yellow}}
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color11 f{{theme.term.bright.yellow}}
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# blue
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color4 f{{theme.term.normal.blue}}
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color12 f{{theme.term.bright.blue}}
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# purple (red)
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color5 f{{theme.term.normal.purple}}
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color13 f{{theme.term.bright.purple}}
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# cyan (blue)
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color6 f{{theme.term.normal.cyan}}
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color14 f{{theme.term.bright.cyan}}
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## white
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color7 f{{theme.term.normal.white}}
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color15 f{{theme.term.bright.white}}
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```
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and use `symconf` to dynamically fill these variables based on a selected
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biome/harshness/mode. This can be done for any app config file.
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[1]: https://github.com/isa/TextMate-Themes/blob/master/monoindustrial.tmTheme
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[2]: https://github.com/vim-airline/vim-airline
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[3]: https://github.com/ologio/symconf
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