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Utilitarian Mallorca

#2a5481
Notes

Utilitarian Mallorca (#2A5481) is a deep azure with an earthy character. It leans grounded and natural, the kind of color that plays well with wood, clay, linen, and warm neutrals. Its HSL profile (211°, 51%, 34%) 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 orange. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#2a5481
RGB
rgb(42, 84, 129)
HSL
hsl(211, 51%, 34%)
HWB
hwb(211 16% 49%)
OKLCH
oklch(43.8% 0.088 251.9)
P3
color(display-p3 0.2053 0.3255 0.4920)
HSV
hsv(211, 67%, 51%)
LAB
lab(34.84% 0.78 -29.64)
LCH
lch(34.84% 29.65 271.51)
CMYK
cmyk(67%, 35%, 0%, 49%)

Etymology

Utilitarian
adjective

Latin ūtilitās, usefulness — adjectival suffix -ian. As a color modifier, utilitarian implies a clear-and-purpose-fit-and-stripped-down quality, the crisp color of Shaker-and-Quaker anti-ornamental functional-and-no-frills craft tradition. Sits at the crisp-and-functional end of the grid, parallel to functional and workmanlike in usage.

Mallorca
noun

The largest Balearic island — and the saturated deep blue of Mallorcan Tramuntana coastline at Cala Tuent and Sa Calobra. Mallorca color refers to the cove water at Sa Calobra: a saturated, slightly cool deep blue with the optical depth of cold-water Mediterranean cove against limestone cliff.

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.

#2a5481
Original
#405683
Protanopia
#344e80
Deuteranopia
#005e64
Tritanopia
#4e4e4e
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).
AAAon White
7.83:1
The quick brown foxSample body text at normal size. The wcag minimum for body contrast is 4.5:1 (AA) or 7:1 (AAA).
Failon Black
2.68:1

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
##2A5481
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.2053 0.3255 0.4920)
P3 has subtle headroomOKLCH chroma 0.088

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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