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Reposeful Lithodora

#21b9bc
Notes

Reposeful Lithodora (#21B9BC) 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 (181°, 70%, 43%) places it in the balanced band at a mid lightness. It works across type, buttons, and borders, saturated enough to feel deliberate but balanced enough to not fight the rest of the palette. 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
#21b9bc
RGB
rgb(33, 185, 188)
HSL
hsl(181, 70%, 43%)
HWB
hwb(181 13% 26%)
OKLCH
oklch(71.5% 0.116 197.0)
HSV
hsv(181, 82%, 74%)
LAB
lab(68.50% -35.32 -12.24)
LCH
lch(68.50% 37.38 199.11)
CMYK
cmyk(82%, 2%, 0%, 26%)

Etymology

Reposeful
adjective

Latin repōnere, to put back — adjectival suffix -ful. As a color modifier, reposeful implies a clear-and-restful-and-still quality, the calm color of pre-modern monastic cloister-and-refectory meditative-and-silent interior architecture. Sits at the crisp-and-calm end of the grid, parallel to peaceful and placid in usage.

Lithodora
noun

The genus Lithodora — Mediterranean rock-garden ground covers with intensely deep-blue flowers. L. diffusa 'Heavenly Blue' is among the most saturated blue flowers grown in temperate gardens. The color refers to a fresh L. diffusa mat in flower: a saturated, slightly cool deep blue with the matte finish of small five-petaled flower.

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.

#21b9bc
Original
#acb0bc
Protanopia
#97a1bd
Deuteranopia
#00c0ba
Tritanopia
#999999
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
2.41:1
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
8.73:1

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