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Smooth Dumortierite

#4a59aa
Notes

Smooth Dumortierite (#4A59AA) is a true blue 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 (231°, 39%, 48%) 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
#4a59aa
RGB
rgb(74, 89, 170)
HSL
hsl(231, 39%, 48%)
HWB
hwb(231 29% 33%)
OKLCH
oklch(49.3% 0.130 272.9)
HSV
hsv(231, 56%, 67%)
LAB
lab(40.41% 18.68 -45.40)
LCH
lch(40.41% 49.10 292.36)
CMYK
cmyk(56%, 48%, 0%, 33%)

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.

Dumortierite
noun

An aluminum-borate-silicate mineral — saturated deep blue, mined principally in Madagascar, Brazil, and Nevada. Used as ornamental stone and porcelain manufacturing additive. The color refers to a polished dumortierite cabochon: a saturated, slightly cool deep blue with the matte finish of opaque silicate mineral.

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.

#4a59aa
Original
#3364ad
Protanopia
#265ba8
Deuteranopia
#136b79
Tritanopia
#5c5c5c
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
6.36:1
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
3.30:1

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