The neon and Miami Vice colour palette
The 80s ran two palettes at once. Hard neon: hot magenta, cyan, electric blue, acid yellow and lime, usually on black. Miami pastel: flamingo pink, mint, peach, lavender and turquoise, usually on white. Both feel 80s; neon reads as nightlife and energy, pastel as daytime cool.
Hard neon
Fluorescent pink, green and yellow lit up everything in the 80s. The palette that reads instantly as "neon 80s":
- Hot magenta / shocking pink
- Cyan and electric blue
- Acid yellow and lime green
- A pure black or deep navy ground to make them glow
This is the nightclub, arcade and synthwave palette — high energy, high contrast.
Miami pastel
Miami Vice pushed the softer side: sun-bleached, humid, expensive-looking.
- Flamingo pink and coral
- Mint and seafoam
- Peach and soft apricot
- Lavender and turquoise
- Warm white or sand as the ground
This is the daytime, linen-suit, pastel-blazer palette — relaxed and cool.
Using them together
Most 80s design picks one and commits. An AI 80s portrait often blends them — a pastel wardrobe against a neon-grid backdrop — which is why the results feel both sunny and electric at once.
Upload a photo and 80s Filter restyles it into a 1980s portrait — hair, wardrobe, film look and all.
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