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Refulgent Freshet

#28e0ff
Notes

Refulgent Freshet (#28E0FF) is a true cyan with a neon character. It sits at the high-saturation edge of its family. Use it sparingly, as signage, accent, or highlight against darker surfaces. Its HSL profile (189°, 100%, 58%) 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 red. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#28e0ff
RGB
rgb(40, 224, 255)
HSL
hsl(189, 100%, 58%)
HWB
hwb(189 16% 0%)
OKLCH
oklch(83.5% 0.140 213.0)
HSV
hsv(189, 84%, 100%)
LAB
lab(82.37% -32.65 -27.34)
LCH
lch(82.37% 42.58 219.94)
CMYK
cmyk(84%, 12%, 0%, 0%)

Etymology

Refulgent
adjective

Latin refulgēns, shining-back — present-participle of refulgere, sharing root with fulgor (lightning). As a color modifier, refulgent implies a saturated-and-reflective-shining quality, the bright color of polished-bronze-and-armor reflective-surface mid-day-sun reflection. Sits at the bright-and-saturated end of the grid, parallel to effulgent and resplendent in usage.

Freshet
noun

A sudden flood of fresh water — particularly the spring runoff of melting mountain snow into rivers. Freshet color refers to a freshet-swollen mountain river in late April: a soft, slightly cool deep blue-white with the optical complexity of snowmelt-suspended sediment.

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.

#28e0ff
Original
#c9d8ff
Protanopia
#aec4ff
Deuteranopia
#00ecea
Tritanopia
#bbbbbb
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
1.59:1
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
13.20:1

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