Dark Power BI theme · passed colour-vision check

Synthwave Power BI theme

Neon dark Power BI theme: hot magenta lead on violet-black, ice white, laser yellow and electric violet series, Bahnschrift headings, for showcase screens.

By · Founder & Reliability Engineer · Updated

Free for commercial use
Synthwave theme applied to the Social Media Performance template

Shown on the Social Media Performance template.

Power BI Desktop: Design ribbon → Import theme. Power BI service: View → Theme pane.

Design with this theme →

About the palette

Synthwave is the retro-neon theme: a violet-black page #0D0221, cards #160A33, hot magenta #F5439C lead, ice white #E2FDFD second and laser yellow #EEE928 third. It's meant for showcase screens, launch events and social-campaign walls, not for daily desk use.

Despite the neon, its first six colours passed the colour-vision simulation because they differ strongly in lightness as well as hue. Use the green #3DF58E sparingly; it is also the good status colour. Text #F5F0FF is 16.6:1 on the cards.

Palette profile

Computed from the colours on this page, not written by hand: hue spread, lightness range, contrast and a colour-vision simulation of the first six chart colours.

Best for

  • Stacked and clustered charts with up to six series: 7 hue families, and the first six colours stay apart in the colour-vision simulation.
  • Greyscale printing and PDF board packs: the chart colours span 49–94 % lightness, so bars stay apart without colour.
  • Wall displays and dark-mode screens: text at 16.6:1 and every chart colour at 4.4:1 or more on the cards.
  • Variance charts, waterfalls and KPI deltas: good #3DF58E and bad #FF4D4D are 146° apart in hue.

Colour-vision simulation

The first six chart colours stay apart for protanopia, deuteranopia and tritanopia (OKLab distance 0.06 or more after simulation).

Chart colours
8, in 7 hue families
Lightness range
49–94 %
Text contrast
16.6:1
Muted text
8.2:1
Weakest chart colour
4.4:1 on cards
Near-grey series
1

Colours and contrast

Contrast ratios are measured against the card (surface) colour, where visuals sit. Text needs 4.5:1; graphics need 3:1.

Theme colours and contrast against the card colour
RoleColourContrast on cardCheck
Page background#0D0221—base
Card / surface#160A33—base
Text#F5F0FF16.70:1AA text
Muted text#B0A8CC8.28:1AA text
Accent#F5439C5.48:1≥ 3:1
Good#3DF58E13.02:1≥ 3:1
Neutral#EEE92814.50:1≥ 3:1
Bad#FF4D4D5.71:1≥ 3:1
Data colour 1#F5439C5.48:1≥ 3:1
Data colour 2#E2FDFD17.51:1≥ 3:1
Data colour 3#EEE92814.50:1≥ 3:1
Data colour 4#7B61FF4.44:1≥ 3:1
Data colour 5#3DF58E13.02:1≥ 3:1
Data colour 6#FF8A3D7.96:1≥ 3:1
Data colour 7#11B5EB7.85:1≥ 3:1
Data colour 8#C86BFA6.17:1≥ 3:1

Theme JSON excerpt

The downloaded file also includes text classes, visual styles and slicer, table and card defaults.

synthwave-theme.json
{
  "name": "Synthwave",
  "dataColors": [
    "#F5439C",
    "#E2FDFD",
    "#EEE928",
    "#7B61FF",
    "#3DF58E",
    "#FF8A3D",
    "#11B5EB",
    "#C86BFA"
  ],
  "background": "#0D0221",
  "foreground": "#F5F0FF",
  "tableAccent": "#F5439C",
  "good": "#3DF58E",
  "neutral": "#EEE928",
  "bad": "#FF4D4D"
}

Import this theme in Power BI Desktop

  1. 1

    Download the theme

    Use the Download theme JSON button above. The file is a few kilobytes and contains no images.

  2. 2

    Import the theme

    In Power BI Desktop open the Design ribbon → Import theme and select the file. In the Power BI service use View → Theme pane. Older Desktop builds: View → Themes → Browse for themes.

  3. 3

    Check visual overrides

    Visuals with manually set colours keep them. Use Format → Reset to default on those visuals to pick up the theme.

  4. 4

    Add a matching background

    Open the design studio with Synthwave selected to build a page background in the same colours.

VizForge AI · custom visuals

Generate a custom visual for this slot

Need a chart Power BI doesn't have? Pick a slot from the sample report above and VizForge AI writes a custom visual (.pbiviz, with TypeScript source) sized to it and drawn in the Synthwave colours.

Line chart · 704×200 px

1, 2 or 5 credits depending on the brief · 5 free on signup. Sign in or create a free account on the next screen; the brief is saved for 30 minutes.

Brief sent to the generator (you can edit it there)

A Power BI line visual titled "Followers by week". It sits in a 704×200 px slot on a designed report page. Match the report's brand: data colours #F5439C, #E2FDFD, #EEE928, #7B61FF, #3DF58E, #FF8A3D; background #160A33; text #F5F0FF; font Segoe UI. Transparent visual background so the page design shows through; no visual border. The report uses the Synthwave Power BI theme.

Templates in this theme

Backgrounds to pair with Synthwave

Dark page backgrounds that sit well under this palette. Each background page has its own theme download, or keep Synthwave and set the background image on top.

Need a chart Power BI doesn’t ship?

Theme colours apply to custom visuals too. Describe the chart in plain English and VizForge generates it as a .pbiviz with its TypeScript source; in the design studio, the brief for a visual slot carries this palette. See the visual catalog.

Generate a custom visual with AI · starts free →

Questions about this theme

Is the Synthwave theme accessible?

Yes. Text and muted text meet WCAG AA (4.5:1) on both the page and card colours, and every data and status colour reaches at least 3:1 against the cards. Its first six chart colours also stay distinguishable in a protanopia, deuteranopia and tritanopia simulation. The full contrast table is on this page.

Which fonts does the Synthwave theme use?

It uses Bahnschrift for headings and Segoe UI for body text. All of them are in Power BI's own font list, so the report renders the same in Power BI Desktop and in the Power BI service.

How do I import a theme JSON into Power BI?

In Power BI Desktop go to the Design ribbon → Import theme and select the downloaded .json file; in the Power BI service use View → Theme pane (older Desktop builds: View → Themes → Browse for themes). The data colours, text classes and visual defaults apply to every page of the report.

Which theme JSON schema do these themes use?

They are compiled against the current report theme schema (reportThemeSchema-2.159) and include name, dataColors, background, foreground, tableAccent, good/neutral/bad, textClasses and visualStyles.

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Design a page in Synthwave

Start the design studio with this palette, lay out your page and export a background, the theme JSON and a PBIP project that all match.

The design studio for Power BI. Free, in your browser, no sign-up.