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Functional Chrysocolla

#2c9d91
Notes

Functional Chrysocolla (#2C9D91) is a true teal with a cool character. It leans cool, sitting on the blue, green, and violet side of the wheel. Quiet and dependable, a fit for product UI and data visualization. Its HSL profile (174°, 56%, 39%) 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
#2c9d91
RGB
rgb(44, 157, 145)
HSL
hsl(174, 56%, 39%)
HWB
hwb(174 17% 38%)
OKLCH
oklch(63.2% 0.100 184.6)
P3
color(display-p3 0.3144 0.6070 0.5682)
HSV
hsv(174, 72%, 62%)
LAB
lab(58.69% -33.72 -2.76)
LCH
lch(58.69% 33.83 184.69)
CMYK
cmyk(72%, 0%, 8%, 38%)

Etymology

Functional
adjective

Latin fūnctiō, performance — adjectival suffix -al. As a color modifier, functional implies a clear-and-purpose-fit-and-utilitarian quality, the crisp color of Mid-Century-Modern and Bauhaus form-follows-function design-aesthetic. Sits at the crisp-and-functional end of the grid, parallel to practical and utilitarian in usage.

Chrysocolla
noun

A copper-aluminum hydrous silicate — saturated blue-green, mined principally in copper-mineral deposits of Arizona, Israel, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The color refers to a polished chrysocolla cabochon: a saturated, slightly cool deep blue-green with the matte finish of secondary copper mineral. Cooler than malachite.

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.

#2c9d91
Original
#959491
Protanopia
#858892
Deuteranopia
#00a099
Tritanopia
#848484
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).
AA Largeon White
3.31:1
The quick brown foxSample body text at normal size. The wcag minimum for body contrast is 4.5:1 (AA) or 7:1 (AAA).
AAon Black
6.34:1

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
##2C9D91
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.3144 0.6070 0.5682)
P3 has subtle headroomOKLCH chroma 0.100

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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