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Practical Beryl

#3bc2a4
Notes

Practical Beryl (#3BC2A4) is a true teal 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 (167°, 53%, 50%) 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
#3bc2a4
RGB
rgb(59, 194, 164)
HSL
hsl(167, 53%, 50%)
HWB
hwb(167 23% 24%)
OKLCH
oklch(73.5% 0.123 174.6)
P3
color(display-p3 0.3984 0.7503 0.6483)
HSV
hsv(167, 70%, 76%)
LAB
lab(71.00% -43.14 4.65)
LCH
lch(71.00% 43.39 173.84)
CMYK
cmyk(70%, 0%, 15%, 24%)

Etymology

Practical
adjective

Greek praktikós, practical — adjectival suffix -al. As a color modifier, practical implies a clear-and-purpose-fit-and-everyday quality where the hue carries the visual register of Shaker-and-Quaker utilitarian-and-functional everyday-life craft. Sits at the crisp-and-functional end of the grid, parallel to functional and workmanlike in usage.

Beryl
noun

The mineral Be₃Al₂(SiO₃)₆ — the gem family that includes emerald (chromium-tinted), aquamarine (iron-tinted), and morganite (manganese-tinted). The color beryl refers to the transparent yellow-green variety heliodor or pale common beryl: a soft, slightly muted yellow-green with the high refractive index of a faceted gem. Cleaner than sage, lighter than emerald, with the gem-trade specificity of a single mineral name.

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.

#3bc2a4
Original
#bbb6a3
Protanopia
#a9a8a6
Deuteranopia
#00c4b9
Tritanopia
#a3a3a3
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
2.22:1
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
9.44:1

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
##3BC2A4
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.3984 0.7503 0.6483)
P3 has subtle headroomOKLCH chroma 0.123

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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