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Workmanlike Spark Verdigris

#28b9bc
Notes

Workmanlike Spark Verdigris (#28B9BC) 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°, 65%, 45%) 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
#28b9bc
RGB
rgb(40, 185, 188)
HSL
hsl(181, 65%, 45%)
HWB
hwb(181 16% 26%)
OKLCH
oklch(71.6% 0.114 197.1)
P3
color(display-p3 0.3552 0.7151 0.7310)
HSV
hsv(181, 79%, 74%)
LAB
lab(68.59% -34.72 -12.09)
LCH
lch(68.59% 36.77 199.19)
CMYK
cmyk(79%, 2%, 0%, 26%)

Etymology

Workmanlike
adjective

Old English weorcmann, workman — adjectival suffix -like. As a color modifier, workmanlike implies a clear-and-skilled-and-honest quality where the hue carries the visual register of journeyman-craftsman careful-and-competent hand-built craft. Sits at the crisp-and-functional end of the grid, parallel to functional and practical in usage.

Spark
modifier

Old English spearca, small-ember. As a color modifier, spark implies a small-bright-and-flying-ember quality, the visual register of blacksmith-anvil-and-bonfire-spark hand-small-bright-and-flying-ember blacksmith-anvil-and-bonfire-and-flint-strike sparked-and-small-bright-and-flying surfaces under blacksmith-anvil-and-bonfire-and-flint-strike orange-glow-and-iron-and-flint forge-and-hearth-light. Sits at the modifier-and-mood end of the grid, parallel to flash and flare in usage.

Verdigris
noun

The basic copper carbonate that forms on weathered copper and bronze — the pigment scraped from oxidized metal and used in Renaissance painting before being supplanted by more stable greens. The color refers to a thick verdigris on aged copper roofing or the Statue of Liberty's surface: a soft, slightly muted blue-green with the powdery finish of mineral oxide. Cooler than patina, warmer than seafoam, with the archaeological weight of a mineral made by time.

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.

#28b9bc
Original
#acb0bc
Protanopia
#97a1bd
Deuteranopia
#00c0ba
Tritanopia
#9a9a9a
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
2.40:1
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
8.76:1

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
##28B9BC
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.3552 0.7151 0.7310)
P3 has subtle headroomOKLCH chroma 0.114

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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