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Quiet Blueberry

#4c4a9a
Notes

Quiet Blueberry (#4C4A9A) 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 (242°, 35%, 45%) 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 yellow. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#4c4a9a
RGB
rgb(76, 74, 154)
HSL
hsl(242, 35%, 45%)
HWB
hwb(242 29% 40%)
OKLCH
oklch(45.4% 0.127 281.2)
HSV
hsv(242, 52%, 60%)
LAB
lab(35.53% 23.45 -43.66)
LCH
lch(35.53% 49.56 298.24)
CMYK
cmyk(51%, 52%, 0%, 40%)

Etymology

Quiet
adjective

Latin quietus, at rest — used as a color modifier since the medieval period for hues that read as restrained. Quiet pink, quiet blue: low saturation combined with optical calmness. Sits across the crisp and hushed buckets where the color is present but doesn't ask for attention.

Blueberry
noun

The genus Vaccinium — North American native berry shrubs cultivated since the early twentieth century. The fruit's deep blue-purple skin is colored by anthocyanin and the protective bloom of waxy yeast cells. The color refers to a fresh wild blueberry: a saturated, slightly cool deep blue-violet with the powdery finish of waxy fruit surface.

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.

#4c4a9a
Original
#23579d
Protanopia
#1c5198
Deuteranopia
#2e5b6b
Tritanopia
#505050
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).
AAAon White
7.63:1
The quick brown foxSample body text at normal size. The wcag minimum for body contrast is 4.5:1 (AA) or 7:1 (AAA).
Failon Black
2.75:1

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