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Utilitarian Wraith Lagoon

#43c1dd
Notes

Utilitarian Wraith Lagoon (#43C1DD) is a true cyan with a vibrant character. It holds its own as a focal accent, carrying visual weight without tipping into neon territory. Its HSL profile (191°, 69%, 56%) 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
#43c1dd
RGB
rgb(67, 193, 221)
HSL
hsl(191, 69%, 56%)
HWB
hwb(191 26% 13%)
OKLCH
oklch(75.4% 0.115 215.7)
P3
color(display-p3 0.4112 0.7467 0.8532)
HSV
hsv(191, 70%, 87%)
LAB
lab(72.59% -25.45 -24.02)
LCH
lch(72.59% 34.99 223.35)
CMYK
cmyk(70%, 13%, 0%, 13%)

Etymology

Utilitarian
adjective

Latin ūtilitās, usefulness — adjectival suffix -ian. As a color modifier, utilitarian implies a clear-and-purpose-fit-and-stripped-down quality, the crisp color of Shaker-and-Quaker anti-ornamental functional-and-no-frills craft tradition. Sits at the crisp-and-functional end of the grid, parallel to functional and workmanlike in usage.

Wraith
modifier

Scots wraith, ghost-or-apparition. As a color modifier, wraith implies a ghostly-and-pale-and-apparitional quality, the visual register of Highland-Scots-and-Border-Ballad-wraith hand-ghostly-and-pale-and-apparitional Highland-Scots-and-Border-Ballad-and-Hebridean wraith-and-ghostly-and-pale surfaces under Highland-Scots-and-Border-Ballad-and-Hebridean moonlit-and-mist-shrouded-and-pale graveyard-and-tarn-light. Sits at the modifier-and-mood end of the grid, parallel to pall and gloam in usage.

Lagoon
noun

A shallow body of saltwater partially or fully enclosed by a barrier — coral atoll lagoons in the Pacific, Venice's Laguna Veneta, the Florida Keys' backcountry. The color refers to the average reflectance of a calm tropical lagoon at midday: a saturated, slightly muted blue-green with the optical clarity of shallow water over white sand. Brighter than reef, cooler than aquamarine, with the postcard weight of a Pacific atoll seen from above.

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.

#43c1dd
Original
#aebbdf
Protanopia
#98abdd
Deuteranopia
#00cbca
Tritanopia
#a8a8a8
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
2.12:1
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
9.91:1

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
##43C1DD
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.4112 0.7467 0.8532)
P3 has subtle headroomOKLCH chroma 0.115

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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