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Straightforward Libra Lagoon

#28b8d0
Notes

Straightforward Libra Lagoon (#28B8D0) 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 (189°, 68%, 49%) 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
#28b8d0
RGB
rgb(40, 184, 208)
HSL
hsl(189, 68%, 49%)
HWB
hwb(189 16% 18%)
OKLCH
oklch(72.1% 0.118 212.2)
P3
color(display-p3 0.3535 0.7112 0.8033)
HSV
hsv(189, 81%, 82%)
LAB
lab(68.96% -28.06 -22.53)
LCH
lch(68.96% 35.98 218.76)
CMYK
cmyk(81%, 12%, 0%, 18%)

Etymology

Straightforward
adjective

English compound straight + forward — sharing root with German geradeaus. As a color modifier, straightforward implies a clear-and-direct-and-unencumbered quality where the hue carries the visual register of clear-aim-and-uncomplicated character. Sits at the crisp-and-honest end of the grid, parallel to candid and direct in usage.

Libra
modifier

Latin libra, scales-of-the-zodiac. As a color modifier, libra implies a scales-and-air-sign-and-Venus-ruled-cardinal-air quality, the visual register of Roman-Libra-and-scales-of-justice hand-scales-and-air-sign-and-Venus-ruled-cardinal-air Roman-Libra-and-scales-of-justice-and-Themis-Astraea libra-and-scales-and-air-sign surfaces under Roman-Libra-and-scales-of-justice-and-Themis-Astraea autumn-equinox-and-September-and-October cardinal-air-sign-light. Sits at the modifier-and-zodiac end of the grid, parallel to virgo and scorpio in usage.

Lagoon
noun

A shallow body of saltwater partially or fully enclosed by a barrier — coral atoll lagoons in the Pacific, Venice's Laguna Veneta, the Florida Keys' backcountry. The color refers to the average reflectance of a calm tropical lagoon at midday: a saturated, slightly muted blue-green with the optical clarity of shallow water over white sand. Brighter than reef, cooler than aquamarine, with the postcard weight of a Pacific atoll seen from above.

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.

#28b8d0
Original
#a5b1d1
Protanopia
#8fa1d0
Deuteranopia
#00c2bf
Tritanopia
#9b9b9b
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
2.37:1
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
8.86:1

Wide gamut

Display P3 representation

The CSS Color 4 wide-gamut form of this color. Both swatches render the same color on every display — the P3 form only diverges from sRGB when a designer pushes channels outside sRGB's reach.

sRGB hex
sRGB hex
##28B8D0
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.3535 0.7112 0.8033)
P3 has subtle headroomOKLCH chroma 0.118

Moderately saturated colors gain a small bump in P3 — the difference is usually visible side-by-side on wide-gamut hardware but won't change the character of the color.

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