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Cool Acqua

#1c8c5e
Notes

Cool Acqua (#1C8C5E) is a deep teal with a jewel character. It carries the deep, saturated richness of a gemstone. Authoritative and slightly formal, it works well for type and heavy UI elements. Its HSL profile (155°, 67%, 33%) places it in the balanced band at a dark lightness. It works well as a headline, icon, or deep background in an otherwise light layout, pairing cleanly with cream, bone, and warm neutrals. For a confident two-color system, pair it with its complementary magenta. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#1c8c5e
RGB
rgb(28, 140, 94)
HSL
hsl(155, 67%, 33%)
HWB
hwb(155 11% 45%)
OKLCH
oklch(56.9% 0.120 160.1)
HSV
hsv(155, 80%, 55%)
LAB
lab(51.62% -41.51 16.16)
LCH
lch(51.62% 44.54 158.72)
CMYK
cmyk(80%, 0%, 33%, 45%)

Etymology

Cool
adjective

Old English cōl, of low temperature — used as a color modifier as the complement to warm. Cool gray, cool blue: the optical impression of a slight blue-green shift, even within otherwise warm or neutral hues. Sits across the crisp, hushed, pale, and neutral buckets.

Acqua
noun

The Italian word for water — used in fashion vocabulary for the pale blue-green of clear pool water and acqua marina hued silks. The color refers to the water of a Roman fountain in summer: a soft, slightly green-shifted pale blue with the optical clarity of mineral spring water. Lighter than aqua.

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.

#1c8c5e
Original
#8a815b
Protanopia
#7d7761
Deuteranopia
#008b80
Tritanopia
#717171
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).
AA Largeon White
4.23:1
The quick brown foxSample body text at normal size. The wcag minimum for body contrast is 4.5:1 (AA) or 7:1 (AAA).
AAon Black
4.96:1

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