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Glowy Caribbean

#4bf2ee
Notes

Glowy Caribbean (#4BF2EE) is a true cyan with a neon character. It sits at the high-saturation edge of its family. Use it sparingly, as signage, accent, or highlight against darker surfaces. Its HSL profile (179°, 87%, 62%) 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 red. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#4bf2ee
RGB
rgb(75, 242, 238)
HSL
hsl(179, 87%, 62%)
HWB
hwb(179 29% 5%)
OKLCH
oklch(87.7% 0.134 192.6)
HSV
hsv(179, 69%, 95%)
LAB
lab(87.57% -42.57 -10.49)
LCH
lch(87.57% 43.84 193.85)
CMYK
cmyk(69%, 0%, 2%, 5%)

Etymology

Glowy
adjective

Old English glōwan, to glow — adjectival suffix -y. As a color modifier, glowy implies a saturated-and-soft-emitting-and-warm quality, the bright color of fireside-and-candle-lit interior atmospheric-warmth surface emission. Sits at the bright-and-warm end of the grid, parallel to glowing and luminous in usage.

Caribbean
noun

The Caribbean Sea — the tropical basin between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic, ringed by Cuba, Hispaniola, the Lesser Antilles, and the Central American mainland. The color refers to mid-depth Caribbean water on a sunny day: a saturated, slightly muted blue-green with the optical complexity of pure water filtered through coral sand. Cooler than turquoise, warmer than azure, with the postcard weight of a sea named for its indigenous people.

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.

#4bf2ee
Original
#e3e6ee
Protanopia
#cbd4ef
Deuteranopia
#00f9f0
Tritanopia
#cecece
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
1.38:1
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
15.23:1

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