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Level Frost

#01bdca
Notes

Level Frost (#01BDCA) is a true cyan with a vibrant character. It holds its own as a focal accent, carrying visual weight without tipping into neon territory. Its HSL profile (184°, 99%, 40%) places it in the highly saturated band at a mid lightness. Best used in small doses, like logos, CTAs, focus rings, or highlight text, where its saturation becomes a feature rather than noise. For a confident two-color system, pair it with its complementary red. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#01bdca
RGB
rgb(1, 189, 202)
HSL
hsl(184, 99%, 40%)
HWB
hwb(184 0% 21%)
OKLCH
oklch(72.8% 0.124 203.6)
HSV
hsv(184, 100%, 79%)
LAB
lab(69.94% -34.34 -17.77)
LCH
lch(69.94% 38.66 207.37)
CMYK
cmyk(100%, 6%, 0%, 21%)

Etymology

Level
adjective

Latin libella, small-balance / level-tool — sharing root with libra (balance). As a color modifier, level implies a clear-and-horizontal-true quality where the hue carries the visual register of gravity-perpendicular-and-perfectly-horizontal surface. Sits at the crisp-and-balanced end of the grid, parallel to plumb and flat in usage.

Frost
noun

The ice crystals that condense from atmospheric moisture onto cold surfaces — windowpanes, leaves, the windshield of a parked car at dawn. The color is barely a color: a very pale, slightly green-shifted blue with the optical brightness of micron-scale crystals scattering light. Lighter than glacier, warmer than ice, with the agricultural-calendar weight of a phenomenon that defines the growing season.

Closest matches

The nearest named color in three reference sources, ranked by perceptual distance (ΔE76 in CIELAB). ΔE < 1 is imperceptible to most viewers; ΔE > 10 is clearly different. When two sources point to the same hex they’re merged into one tile; click any to open that color’s page.

Variations

Click any swatch to explore

Harmonies

Accessibility

Color-vision simulation

How this color appears to viewers with the four major color-vision-deficiency types. Computed via the Machado (2009) physiologically-based model. If a tile matches the original, the color reads the same to that viewer.

#01bdca
Original
#acb4cb
Protanopia
#96a4cb
Deuteranopia
#00c5c1
Tritanopia
#969696
Achromatopsia
WCAG contrast

The color used as foreground text against pure white and pure black, with the contrast ratio and WCAG 2.1 grade. Aim for AA (4.5:1) for body text and AA Large (3:1) for 18 pt+ headlines; AAA (7:1) is the gold standard for long-form reading surfaces.

The quick brown foxSample body text at normal size. The wcag minimum for body contrast is 4.5:1 (AA) or 7:1 (AAA).
Failon White
2.30:1
The quick brown foxSample body text at normal size. The wcag minimum for body contrast is 4.5:1 (AA) or 7:1 (AAA).
AAAon Black
9.13:1

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Canvas