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Translucent Bayou

#4bc4eb
Notes

Translucent Bayou (#4BC4EB) 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 (195°, 80%, 61%) places it in the highly saturated band at a mid lightness. Best used in small doses, like logos, CTAs, focus rings, or highlight text, where its saturation becomes a feature rather than noise. For a confident two-color system, pair it with its complementary orange. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#4bc4eb
RGB
rgb(75, 196, 235)
HSL
hsl(195, 80%, 61%)
HWB
hwb(195 29% 8%)
OKLCH
oklch(76.9% 0.119 223.1)
HSV
hsv(195, 68%, 92%)
LAB
lab(74.17% -21.52 -29.17)
LCH
lch(74.17% 36.25 233.58)
CMYK
cmyk(68%, 17%, 0%, 8%)

Etymology

Translucent
adjective

Latin trans-lūcēre, to shine through — present-participle of translucere. As a color modifier, translucent implies a clear-and-light-passing quality where the hue allows partial light-transmission through its visual surface. Sits at the crisp-and-clear end of the grid, parallel to pellucid and vitreous in usage.

Bayou
noun

A slow-moving body of water in the Mississippi-Louisiana wetland — particularly the Atchafalaya Basin and Cajun Country swamps. Bayou color refers to typical Louisiana bayou water: a soft, slightly cool deep blue-green with the optical complexity of tannin-stained slow-moving freshwater under cypress canopy.

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.

#4bc4eb
Original
#aec0ed
Protanopia
#97afeb
Deuteranopia
#00d0d1
Tritanopia
#adadad
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
2.02:1
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
10.39:1

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