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Bright Loch

#09c4ff
Notes

Bright Loch (#09C4FF) is a true cyan with a neon character. It sits at the high-saturation edge of its family. Use it sparingly, as signage, accent, or highlight against darker surfaces. Its HSL profile (194°, 100%, 52%) 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
#09c4ff
RGB
rgb(9, 196, 255)
HSL
hsl(194, 100%, 52%)
HWB
hwb(194 4% 0%)
OKLCH
oklch(76.7% 0.150 229.0)
HSV
hsv(194, 96%, 100%)
LAB
lab(74.03% -20.06 -40.22)
LCH
lch(74.03% 44.95 243.49)
CMYK
cmyk(96%, 23%, 0%, 0%)

Etymology

Bright
adjective

Old English beorht, shining, luminous — cognate with the German Bracht, splendor. Applied to color since at least the medieval period for hues that read as luminous: not just light in value but optically active, as if scattering more light back than a dimmer color of the same lightness would. Sits at the bright-bucket center alongside vivid and brilliant.

Loch
noun

The Scottish word for lake (from Gaelic loch) — particularly the saturated deep blue of Loch Ness, Loch Lomond, and the highland lochs of the western Highlands. Loch color refers to Loch Lomond at midday: a saturated, slightly cool deep blue with the optical depth of cold-water highland lake.

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.

#09c4ff
Original
#a5c1ff
Protanopia
#88adfe
Deuteranopia
#00d4d8
Tritanopia
#a1a1a1
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
2.03:1
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
10.35:1

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