Color brief · Cyan
#8B9CA1 (#8B9CA1) — practical notes
#8B9CA1 (#8b9ca1) sits in the cyan family at about 194° hue, 10% saturation, and 59% lightness. Contrast is 2.85:1 on white and 7.37:1 on black, so near-black labels read more clearly on the swatch itself. Nearest Tailwind token: gray-400 (approximation unless the hex is an official scale stop).
- supporting UI accents
- text or icons on charcoal / dark mode
Do not use #8b9ca1 as small body text on white — 2.85:1 misses WCAG AA (4.5:1). Pair it with a darker shade from the scale below, or check pairs in the contrast checker.
Low saturation makes this easy to overuse as a neutral. Keep one chromatic accent elsewhere so the interface does not go muddy.
Specs & accessibility references: W3C WCAG 2.1 contrast minimum · MDN CSS color values · CSS Color Module Level 4 · WebAIM contrast guide.
COLOR EXPLORER
THE ORIGINAL SWATCH#8B9CA1
100% opacity · sRGB
YOUR NEXT GREAT ACCENT
#8B9CA1
Explore the codes, find a readable pairing, and see how this color feels in a real design.
HEX
#8B9CA1RGB
rgb(139, 156, 161)HSL
hsl(194, 10%, 59%)PUT IT INTO PRACTICE
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Try it with another color before you commit.
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Selected text: #8B9CA1CONTRAST RATIO2.85:1
- AA · normal text
- Fail
- AA · large text
- Fail
- AAA · normal text
- Fail
Normal text: AA 4.5:1, AAA 7:1. Large text: AA 3:1 (24px regular or about 19px bold).
Against white2.85:1
Against black7.37:1
Results use the exact pair, at full opacity. WCAG contrast guidance ↗
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Color codes
HEX
#8b9ca1
RGB
rgb(139, 156, 161)
HSL
hsl(194, 10%, 59%)
OKLCH
oklch(0.6809 0.0208 217.37)
CMYK
cmyk(14%, 3%, 0%, 37%)
CSS variable
--color-8b9ca1: #8b9ca1;
CMYK is an approximate reference; print output depends on the color profile. HSV and CMYK are not CSS color functions.
OKLCH
Perceptual 50–950 scale
Generated in OKLCH from this hex. Not an official Tailwind scale unless the hex itself is a Tailwind token.
Palette
Tints & shades
Full scale from light tints through the base color into deep shades
Palette
Tints
Mixed toward white — soft backgrounds and highlights
Palette
Shades
Mixed toward black — depth, text, and emphasis
Palette
Tones
Mixed toward neutral grey — muted UI surfaces
Harmony
Complementary
Opposite on the color wheel for contrast
Harmony
Analogous
Neighbors that sit comfortably together
Harmony
Triadic
Evenly spaced triad for vibrant sets
Harmony
Split complementary
Base plus two accents beside the complement
Harmony
Monochromatic
Same hue, varied lightness and saturation
Export
Developer code
css
:root {
--color8b9ca1-1: #8b9ca1;
}Design systems
Nearest official tokens
An arbitrary HEX is not an official Tailwind, Material, or Bootstrap color. Distance is CIEDE2000.
Nearest Tailwind color
gray-400
Very different · ΔE 7.12 · #9CA3AF
Nearest CSS named color
DarkGray
Very different · ΔE 8.79 · #A9A9A9
Nearest Material color
blue-grey-300
Noticeably different · ΔE 3.33 · #90A4AE
Nearest Bootstrap color
secondary
Very different · ΔE 14.13 · #6C757D
Using this color
Where #8b9ca1 works
#8B9CA1 (#8b9ca1) sits in the cyan family at about 194° hue, 10% saturation, and 59% lightness. Contrast is 2.85:1 on white and 7.37:1 on black, so near-black labels read more clearly on the swatch itself. Nearest Tailwind token: gray-400 (approximation unless the hex is an official scale stop).
Sensible jobs for this swatch
- supporting UI accents
- text or icons on charcoal / dark mode
Do not use #8b9ca1 as small body text on white — 2.85:1 misses WCAG AA (4.5:1). Pair it with a darker shade from the scale below, or check pairs in the contrast checker.
Low saturation makes this easy to overuse as a neutral. Keep one chromatic accent elsewhere so the interface does not go muddy.
Family context: Freshness, clarity, and innovation. Great for tech accents and clean digital products. Common uses still include buttons, charts, and accents in the Cyan range — always verify the pair for this exact hex in the contrast checker.
Related
Similar & related colors
Nearby colors from the library by perceptual distance