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Phosphorescent Acquerello

#36e1a9
Notes

Phosphorescent Acquerello (#36E1A9) is a true teal with a vibrant character. It holds its own as a focal accent, carrying visual weight without tipping into neon territory. Its HSL profile (160°, 74%, 55%) 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
#36e1a9
RGB
rgb(54, 225, 169)
HSL
hsl(160, 74%, 55%)
HWB
hwb(160 21% 12%)
OKLCH
oklch(81.2% 0.157 165.5)
HSV
hsv(160, 76%, 88%)
LAB
lab(80.46% -55.33 15.42)
LCH
lch(80.46% 57.44 164.42)
CMYK
cmyk(76%, 0%, 25%, 12%)

Etymology

Phosphorescent
adjective

Greek phōsphóros, light-bringer — adjectival suffix -escent. As a color modifier, phosphorescent implies a saturated-and-cool-glow-after-stimulation quality, the bright cool-green-blue color of Cu-doped-ZnS glow-in-the-dark photoluminescent surfaces. Sits at the bright-and-cool end of the grid, parallel to fluorescent and luminous in usage.

Acquerello
noun

The Italian word for watercolor — used for the soft, washed-out blue-greens characteristic of Italian Renaissance watercolor underpainting. Acquerello color refers to a watercolor wash on damp paper: a soft, slightly cool pale blue-green with the translucent finish of pigment-and-water on rag paper.

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.

#36e1a9
Original
#dcd1a6
Protanopia
#c7c1ad
Deuteranopia
#00e1d2
Tritanopia
#b9b9b9
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
1.68:1
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
12.50:1

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