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Lined Borage

#4ae5df
Notes

Lined Borage (#4AE5DF) 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 (178°, 75%, 59%) 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
#4ae5df
RGB
rgb(74, 229, 223)
HSL
hsl(178, 75%, 59%)
HWB
hwb(178 29% 10%)
OKLCH
oklch(84.1% 0.127 191.2)
HSV
hsv(178, 68%, 90%)
LAB
lab(83.35% -40.97 -8.88)
LCH
lch(83.35% 41.92 192.23)
CMYK
cmyk(68%, 0%, 3%, 10%)

Etymology

Lined
adjective

Old English līne, line / cord — past-participle of line. As a color modifier, lined implies a clear-and-coordinated-and-supported quality where the hue carries the visual register of carefully-lined-and-supported textile-or-print surface. Sits at the crisp-and-finished end of the grid, parallel to trim and coordinated in usage.

Borage
noun

Borago officinalis, the Mediterranean kitchen herb whose star-shaped blue flowers are edible (used in Pimm's Cup cocktails) and whose leaves taste of cucumber. The color refers to a fresh borage flower at peak bloom: a saturated, slightly cool deep blue with the matte finish of star-shaped Boraginaceae flower.

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.

#4ae5df
Original
#d8d9df
Protanopia
#c1c9e0
Deuteranopia
#00ebe3
Tritanopia
#c4c4c4
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
1.55:1
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
13.56:1

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