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Inscribed Atrium Denim

#3e5d97
Notes

Inscribed Atrium Denim (#3E5D97) is a true 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 (219°, 42%, 42%) 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 amber. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#3e5d97
RGB
rgb(62, 93, 151)
HSL
hsl(219, 42%, 42%)
HWB
hwb(219 24% 41%)
OKLCH
oklch(48.3% 0.101 262.0)
HSV
hsv(219, 59%, 59%)
LAB
lab(39.73% 7.00 -35.22)
LCH
lch(39.73% 35.91 281.23)
CMYK
cmyk(59%, 38%, 0%, 41%)

Etymology

Inscribed
adjective

Latin īnscrībere, to write upon — past-participle of inscribe. As a color modifier, inscribed implies a clear-and-text-or-pattern-cut quality, the crisp color of Roman-Imperial-period monumental-stone inscription-and-monumental-text incised-relief. Sits at the crisp-and-incised end of the grid, parallel to etched and engraved in usage.

Atrium
modifier

Latin atrium, Roman-house-courtyard. As a color modifier, atrium implies a Roman-and-modern-courtyard-with-skylight quality, the visual register of Roman-Pompeii-and-modern-Mid-Century-Modern-atrium hand-built central-courtyard-with-skylight atrium-and-impluvium-and-courtyard architectural surfaces under Roman-and-Mid-Century-Modern atrium-skylight light. Sits at the modifier-and-architecture end of the grid, parallel to loggia and quad in usage.

Denim
noun

The diagonal-twill cotton fabric originally woven in Nîmes, France — serge de Nîmes, contracted to denim — and dyed with indigo since at least the eighteenth century. The color refers to a worn but un-faded pair of raw denim jeans: a saturated, slightly muted blue with the matte finish of cotton fiber that has absorbed dye through generations of weft and warp. Cooler than royal, warmer than navy.

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

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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.

#3e5d97
Original
#456299
Protanopia
#395a96
Deuteranopia
#006a73
Tritanopia
#5b5b5b
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).
AAon White
6.53:1
The quick brown foxSample body text at normal size. The wcag minimum for body contrast is 4.5:1 (AA) or 7:1 (AAA).
AA Largeon Black
3.22:1

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