Simple algorithm and color space to generate diverse skin tones
Details
- External ID
- 49170165
- Source
- HN
- Company
- —
- Product
- Simple algorithm and color space to generate diverse skin tones
- Website domain
- github.io
- Launched
- Aug. 4, 2026
- Cohort
- —
- Upvotes
- 627
- Upvotes percentile
- 0.9986559139784946
- Tags
- —
- Fetched at
- Sept. 10, 2026, 5:32 a.m.
- Updated at
- Sept. 10, 2026, 5:32 a.m.
Description
Hello HN!I found that picking out plausible but diverse skin tones for my digital art and game development projects was kind of difficult, and I got curious about if there was a way to define a color space that made it easy.I've built a color picker and procedural generation algorithm based on the space as well as a bunch of other fun js features and demos throughout the page that use the equations. If you find it interesting, I have lots of explanations of how I built it and what properties the space has.The methodology might be a bit shaky, but hopefully the result is as helpful for others as I have found it! There's lots of room for improvements (see the Future Work section), but I'm really happy with how it turned out.
Enrichment
- Theme
- graphic design assets and utilities
- Vertical
- Media & entertainment
- Function
- Content generation
- Audience
- Developer
- AI stance
- AI feature
- Project type
- Hobby / open-source project
- Normalized one-liner
- generate diverse skin tones algorithmically
- Manually corrected
- False
Could you build this?
Yes The mathematics and procedural generation algorithms for color spaces are fully self-contained formulas and simple client-side JavaScript/Python scripts.
Discussion
20 comments analyzed.
Concerns raised: Missing gamma correction in XYZ to RGB conversion, Training data may need to be refit if gamma-encoded, Skin tone variations not well represented across darker skin tones, Cannot express certain skin characteristics like redhead translucency, B channel differences across darker colored people not well captured
Feature requests: Drop-down list of ethnicities with parameter space guard rails, Better representation of redhead and translucent skin tones, Improved luminosity options for brown skin colors
Competitors
Other products that read as similar to this one — 163 launches clear the similarity bar, closest 8 shown.
Attention rank: #3 of 164 (itself plus its competitors, highest first — normalized so YC and Product Hunt are compared fairly).
Launched 279 days after the earliest competitor.
- An OKLCH-based perceptually uniform color system/theme builder · hn · 2025-11-23 · 5 upvotes · similarity 0.60
- I built a theme engine for white-label apps using OKLCH color science · hn · 2026-04-06 · 5 upvotes · similarity 0.51
- Wave · hn · 2026-09-25 · 7 upvotes · similarity 0.46
- Explore color palettes inspired by 3000 master painter artworks · hn · 2026-05-05 · 215 upvotes · similarity 0.44
- Chroma Panel - Modern React Color Picker · ph · 2026-09-25 · 1 upvotes · similarity 0.44
- Themeable HN · hn · 2026-04-20 · 8 upvotes · similarity 0.44
- Quasicrystals Animation Playground with WebXR · hn · 2026-08-15 · 40 upvotes · similarity 0.43
- I built a browser-based 3D modeler because I'm scared of Blender · hn · 2026-03-04 · 5 upvotes · similarity 0.43
Other launches for this product
- No other launches for this product.
Same idea, different domain
Nobody's really built a content generation tool for Government yet.