Synthwave Neon Palette

Hot magenta, cyan, and the deep navy of an outrun horizon.

#0a0026
#ff1f8f
#5cf2ff
#ffd24a
#7d2bff
#ffffff

Era and hardware

Era: 2013– · Hardware: Aesthetic, not hardware

Key facts

  • Originated in modern revival music videos and album art
  • Two-color systems work best: magenta + cyan
  • The neon glow is achieved with a pure-color core surrounded by a dim secondary halo

How to use this palette for cursor design

Use magenta as the accent and cyan as the highlight. Pure white sparingly.

Open your pixel editor of choice (Aseprite, Piskel, or LibreSprite), import the palette, and follow the five-pass cursor design tutorial: silhouette, outline, fill, highlight, accent. The palette will impose its own discipline — that is the entire point. For deeper background on retro palettes in general, see the retro palette guide.

Cursor packs already in this palette

If you would rather download than design, browse the collections page — collections are organized by palette family and several map directly to the historic palettes documented here.