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<p class="info">UPDATE 2021-01-19 14:21 +0200: The <code>color-tools.el</code> is now called
<code>ct.el</code>.</p>
<p>The Modus themes come with a customisation option to tweak the looks of
programming modes (there are lots of customisation options—consult the
<a href="https://protesilaos.com/emacs/modus-themes">official manual</a>):
<code>modus-themes-syntax 'faint</code>. The present entry documents the
refinements that were introduced to a subset of those “faint” colours.</p>
<p>In this report I am making use of the new <a href="https://github.com/neeasade/ct.el">ct.el library</a>,
developed by Github user neeasade. Even though it is not available in
any package archive as of this writing, I highly recommend it to every
Emacs user who has an interest in colour and/or who is a theme designer.
Consider it as a complement to the built-in <code>color.el</code> Emacs library
(check the source code with <code>M-x find-library</code> and then insert <code>color</code>).
What it offers compared to the built-in option is an element of
convenience, as it lets us use the colour space of our choice. In my
case that is RGB while the notation is hexadecimal.</p>
<p>Colour enthusiasts are also encouraged to read neeasade’s essay:
<a href="https://notes.neeasade.net/color-spaces.html">Reasoning about colors</a>.</p>
<p>The <code>color-tools</code> function that introduces a new test to my workflow is
<code>ct-name-distance</code>, which applies the CIE Δ<em>E</em> 2000 formula. For the
purposes of this article, I am also applying <code>ct-contrast-ratio</code>, even
though there exists <code>modus-themes-contrast</code> as part of my themes, which
builds on the same WCAG formula for contrast in relative luminance
between two values (implemented in <code>modus-themes-wcag-formula</code>).</p>
<h2>Old and new values for “faint” blues and magentas</h2>
<p>The tables below merely present the affected variables and the change in
values assigned to them. The overall intent is to slightly increase the
saturation of those colours while accounting for differences between
them in lieu of their intended purpose, which is to highlight code in a
more subtle way than the default aesthetic of the themes—read the doc
string of <code>modus-themes-syntax</code>.</p>
<p><code>cyan-faint</code> and <code>cyan-alt-other-faint</code> for Modus Operandi have also
been corrected for hueness, mainly by reducing their red light channel.
Other changes are more subtle.</p>
<pre><code class="language-org">#+DESCRIPTION: Affected values for Modus Operandi
| Internal name | Old | New |
|-------------------------+---------+---------|
| cyan-faint | #12506f | #005077 |
| cyan-alt-other-faint | #2e584f | #125458 |
| blue-faint | #002f88 | #003497 |
| blue-alt-faint | #003f78 | #0f3d8c |
| blue-alt-other-faint | #1f0f6f | #001087 |
| magenta-alt-faint | #70256f | #7b206f |
| magenta-alt-other-faint | #5f3f7f | #55348e |
#+DESCRIPTION: Affected values for Modus Vivendi
| Internal name | Old | New |
|-------------------------+---------+---------|
| blue-alt-faint | #a4b0ff | #a0acf5 |
| blue-alt-other-faint | #8fc5ff | #87c8ff |
| magenta-alt-other-faint | #d0b4ff | #cfa6ff |
</code></pre>
<p>Here is a picture of the same table with <code>M-x rainbow-mode</code> enabled, so
if it does not look clear please open it in another window:</p>
<p><img alt="Modus themes select faint colours" src="https://protesilaos.com/assets/images/attachments/modus-themes-review-faint-2021-01-11.png" /></p>
<p>Notice the fine tweaks (yes, those are the lengths we go to).</p>
<h2>Harmonising colour distance for Modus Operandi</h2>
<p>The following table only concerns Modus Operandi (we employ another
technique for Modus Vivendi—next section). It measures the distance
of the new values relative to black and white (CIE Δ<em>E</em> 2000). A value
of 100 is the maximum and it would mean in practical terms that the
closer our values are to the maximum, the more they appear as variants
of black for our light theme.</p>
<p>The table must thus be read as an attempt to slightly “brighten up”
those values and/or normalise the distance between some of them. As
such compare columns 2 to 4 and 3 to 6 (all tables are in <code>org-mode</code>
notation).</p>
<pre><code class="language-org">#+DESCRIPTION: Modus Operandi cie-DE2000 distance for faint blues and magentas
| old | #ffffff | #000000 | new | #ffffff | #000000 |
|---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------|
| #12506f | 58 | 27 | #005077 | 58 | 28 |
| #2e584f | 55 | 28 | #125458 | 58 | 27 |
| #002f88 | 71 | 29 | #003497 | 68 | 31 |
| #003f78 | 65 | 27 | #0f3d8c | 65 | 30 |
| #1f0f6f | 83 | 28 | #001087 | 81 | 30 |
| #70256f | 64 | 31 | #7b206f | 62 | 32 |
| #5f3f7f | 59 | 32 | #55348e | 63 | 32 |
#+TBLFM: $2='(ct-name-distance $1 @1$2);%0.0f :: $3='(ct-name-distance $1 @1$3);%0.0f :: $5='(ct-name-distance $4 @1$5);%0.0f :: $6='(ct-name-distance $4 @1$6);%0.0f
</code></pre>
<p>[ does anyone know of a more succinct <code>#+TBLFM</code> expression? ]</p>
<p>An interesting observation to make with regard to the innate properties
of the channels of light, is how <code>#001087</code> and its old <code>#1f0f6f</code>
(<code>blue-alt-other-faint</code>) is perceived as being closer to black while
compared to pure white, even though it is impressed in more-or-less the
same way as the other colours when compared to pure black (the
discrepancies in the values shown on row 6, relative to the other rows).
This is because the blue channel, here represented as pure blue
(<code>#0000ff</code>), is the darkest among the three components of the RGB
triplet that we are using (green is the brightest, red is medium (though
not precisely)).</p>
<h2>Color distance between the values of Modus Vivendi</h2>
<p>While we tested our colours against black and white for Modus Operandi,
that technique was not suitable for Modus Vivendi. This is because a
dark theme has different requirements and the reason is that the human
eye is more attuned to spot differences in colour against a dark
backdrop (and colour is, in essence, an expression of light, while the
pure black main background of Modus Vivendi is meant to represent the
absence of light—notwithstanding screen technology that always uses
light even for black).</p>
<p>As such, we are mostly interested in adjusting the distance between the
colour values that were deemed somewhat problematic (always in relative
terms, as those tweaks are virtually not discernible by the untrained
observer).</p>
<pre><code class="language-org">#+DESCRIPTION: Modus Vivendi cie-DE2000 distance OLD
| | | Distance |
|---------+---------+----------|
| #a4b0ff | #8fc5ff | 10.2885 |
| #8fc5ff | #d0b4ff | 19.9316 |
| #d0b4ff | #a4b0ff | 10.5743 |
#+TBLFM: $3='(ct-name-distance $1 $2);%0.4f
#+DESCRIPTION: Modus Vivendi cie-DE2000 distance NEW
| | | Distance |
|---------+---------+----------|
| #a0acf5 | #87c8ff | 13.2249 |
| #87c8ff | #cfa6ff | 24.2411 |
| #cfa6ff | #a0acf5 | 11.7710 |
#+TBLFM: $3='(ct-name-distance $1 $2);%0.4f
</code></pre>
<h2>Contrast compared to the main (and relevant) background values</h2>
<p>For the sake of completeness, the following tables confirm that the new
values are consistent with the overarching design principle of the
themes for a minimum contrast in relative luminance between background
and foreground of 7:1 or higher.</p>
<pre><code>#+DESCRIPTION: Modus Operandi WCAG contrast for select "faint" colours
| | #ffffff | #f8f8f8 | #f0f0f0 |
|---------+---------+---------+---------|
| #005077 | 8.70 | 8.19 | 7.63 |
| #125458 | 8.63 | 8.12 | 7.57 |
| #003497 | 10.84 | 10.20 | 9.51 |
| #0f3d8c | 10.16 | 9.57 | 8.92 |
| #001087 | 14.75 | 13.89 | 12.94 |
| #7b206f | 9.22 | 8.68 | 8.09 |
| #55348e | 9.26 | 8.72 | 8.12 |
#+TBLFM: $2='(ct-contrast-ratio $1 @1$2);%0.2f :: $3='(ct-contrast-ratio $1 @1$3);%0.2f :: $4='(ct-contrast-ratio $1 @1$4);%0.2f
#+DESCRIPTION: Modus Vivendi WCAG contrast for select "faint" colours
| | #000000 | #110b11 | #181a20 |
|---------+---------+---------+---------|
| #a0acf5 | 9.71 | 9.00 | 8.05 |
| #87c8ff | 11.74 | 10.87 | 9.72 |
| #cfa6ff | 10.55 | 9.77 | 8.74 |
#+TBLFM: $2='(ct-contrast-ratio $1 @1$2);%0.2f :: $3='(ct-contrast-ratio $1 @1$3);%0.2f :: $4='(ct-contrast-ratio $1 @1$4);%0.2f
</code></pre>
<p>As has been noted before, such as in the recent review of the <a href="https://protesilaos.com/codelog/2020-12-27-modus-themes-review-rainbow-delimiters/">faces
that pertain to the rainbow-delimiters package</a>,
there are a lot of considerations to be made when designing a theme. My
opinion is that this endeavour stands at the intersection of art and
science. We employ scientific insight in support of our choices, while
we exercise artistic judgement or freedom in interpreting the propriety
of every result in its particular context. And we do so in a
non-dogmatic way, meaning that we are prepared at all times to review
our work and challenge our assumptions.</p>
<p>Consequently and despite the fact that we remain committed to the
minimum 7:1 contrast ratio, we cannot tolerate some inadequate technique
of procedurally picking colours which conform with a target of that
sort, nor can we confine ourselves to arbitrary constraints such as
relying only on 4, 8, 16 colours or whatnot. Constraints need be
conducive to the primary design objectives and must thus remain subject
to continuous interpretation and evaluation, in order to stay in sync
with the evolving requirements of the project.</p>
<p>It is the designer who sets the constraints and delineates the
boundaries of their artistic discretion, so that there necessarily
exists an element of auto-nomy (self-determination) as opposed to
hetero-nomy (determined by an other [source]), pursuant to the tenets of
the project. The minimum contrast ratio is inviolable, yet there is
wide range of scenaria that remains to be tested and carefully examined
even after accounting for that principle.</p>