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Vivid Heaven

#16aae4
Notes

Vivid Heaven (#16AAE4) 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 (197°, 82%, 49%) 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 orange. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#16aae4
RGB
rgb(22, 170, 228)
HSL
hsl(197, 82%, 49%)
HWB
hwb(197 9% 11%)
OKLCH
oklch(69.5% 0.139 232.6)
HSV
hsv(197, 90%, 89%)
LAB
lab(65.37% -15.28 -39.07)
LCH
lch(65.37% 41.95 248.63)
CMYK
cmyk(90%, 25%, 0%, 11%)

Etymology

Vivid
adjective

From the Latin vividus, full of life — used as a color modifier since the late sixteenth century for hues that read as luminous and saturated. Vivid red, vivid blue: the implication is that the color appears almost lit from within, with the optical brightness of a high-chroma surface in good light. Sits at the bright-bucket center alongside bright and electric.

Heaven
noun

The vault of the sky and (in religious vocabulary) the realm of the divine — and the saturated blue used in medieval European religious painting for sky, Mary's mantle, and divine background. Heaven color refers to a Florentine Annunciation azure background: a saturated, slightly cool deep blue with the matte finish of ultramarine pigment in tempera.

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

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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.

#16aae4
Original
#8da8e7
Protanopia
#7397e3
Deuteranopia
#00b9be
Tritanopia
#8f8f8f
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
2.66:1
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
7.90:1

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