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Simple algorithm and color space to generate diverse skin tones

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.

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FL score

62

out of 100

Verdict

VALIDATE

medium confidence

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A specialized color picker that generates skin tones algorithmically for digital artists and game developers.

The pain

Digital creators manually hunt through color palettes or use trial-and-error to find skin tones that look natural and diverse. This is tedious, time-consuming, and often produces unrealistic or repetitive results.

The gap

No existing tool specifically optimizes for skin tone generation using a mathematically-defined color space. General color pickers treat all colors equally and don't account for the specific properties that make skin tones look plausible.

Build angle

Start by validating whether game studios, character artists, and illustration teams actually experience this friction enough to adopt a specialized tool. Test with 20-30 creators doing character work. If they use it regularly, explore monetization through: (1) a SaaS subscription for teams, (2) integration into existing design software, or (3) licensing the algorithm to game engines. The technical foundation is solid; the question is whether the problem is acute enough to sustain a business.

Strengths

  • Solves a real, specific problem that general tools don't address
  • Technical approach is novel and well-researched by the creator
  • Low barrier to initial adoption, free web tool builds audience
  • Applicable across multiple creative industries (games, animation, illustration, VFX)
  • Creator demonstrates deep understanding of both the problem and the solution

Risks

  • Market size unclear, how many creators actually struggle with this enough to pay?
  • Free tool may cannibalize paid product potential; unclear monetization path
  • Competitors could add this feature to existing design tools (Figma, Adobe, Procreate) with minimal effort
  • Niche use case, not every artist needs specialized skin tone generation
  • No evidence of user demand beyond the creator's own need
  • Technical correctness doesn't guarantee commercial viability

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