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Smooth Tahiti

#3db38a
Notes

Smooth Tahiti (#3DB38A) 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 (159°, 49%, 47%) 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 magenta. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#3db38a
RGB
rgb(61, 179, 138)
HSL
hsl(159, 49%, 47%)
HWB
hwb(159 24% 30%)
OKLCH
oklch(69.0% 0.122 166.1)
HSV
hsv(159, 66%, 70%)
LAB
lab(65.80% -42.69 11.45)
LCH
lch(65.80% 44.20 164.99)
CMYK
cmyk(66%, 0%, 23%, 30%)

Etymology

Smooth
adjective

Old English smōþ, level, polished — used as a color modifier since the seventeenth century for hues that read as continuous without texture or break. Smooth tan, smooth gray: moderate saturation combined with optical evenness. Sits in the crisp-bucket alongside even.

Tahiti
noun

The largest island of French Polynesia — and the saturated blue-green of Tahitian lagoons surrounded by coral reef. Tahiti color refers to a Tahitian lagoon at midday: a saturated, slightly cool deep blue-green with the optical clarity of shallow tropical water over white coral sand.

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.

#3db38a
Original
#afa788
Protanopia
#9f9b8d
Deuteranopia
#00b3a8
Tritanopia
#979797
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
2.62:1
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
8.01:1

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