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Functional Pitted Verdigris

#4fa8a1
Notes

Functional Pitted Verdigris (#4FA8A1) is a true cyan 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 (175°, 36%, 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 red. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#4fa8a1
RGB
rgb(79, 168, 161)
HSL
hsl(175, 36%, 48%)
HWB
hwb(175 31% 34%)
OKLCH
oklch(67.5% 0.086 188.5)
P3
color(display-p3 0.4014 0.6509 0.6296)
HSV
hsv(175, 53%, 66%)
LAB
lab(63.54% -28.32 -4.52)
LCH
lch(63.54% 28.68 189.06)
CMYK
cmyk(53%, 0%, 4%, 34%)

Etymology

Functional
adjective

Latin fūnctiō, performance — adjectival suffix -al. As a color modifier, functional implies a clear-and-purpose-fit-and-utilitarian quality, the crisp color of Mid-Century-Modern and Bauhaus form-follows-function design-aesthetic. Sits at the crisp-and-functional end of the grid, parallel to practical and utilitarian in usage.

Pitted
modifier

Old English pyt, pit / hole. As a color modifier, pitted implies a small-hole-and-mark-pattern quality, the visual register of worn-and-pitted-stone-and-leather hand-worn-and-pitted stone-and-leather-and-metal worn-and-pitted-mark-and-hole surfaces under worn-and-pitted-stone-and-leather aged light. Sits at the modifier-and-texture end of the grid, parallel to mossed and limed in usage.

Verdigris
noun

The basic copper carbonate that forms on weathered copper and bronze — the pigment scraped from oxidized metal and used in Renaissance painting before being supplanted by more stable greens. The color refers to a thick verdigris on aged copper roofing or the Statue of Liberty's surface: a soft, slightly muted blue-green with the powdery finish of mineral oxide. Cooler than patina, warmer than seafoam, with the archaeological weight of a mineral made by time.

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.

#4fa8a1
Original
#a0a0a1
Protanopia
#9195a2
Deuteranopia
#0eaca6
Tritanopia
#959595
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
2.82:1
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
7.45:1

Wide gamut

Display P3 representation

The CSS Color 4 wide-gamut form of this color. Both swatches render the same color on every display — the P3 form only diverges from sRGB when a designer pushes channels outside sRGB's reach.

sRGB hex
sRGB hex
##4FA8A1
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.4014 0.6509 0.6296)
P3 has subtle headroomOKLCH chroma 0.086

Moderately saturated colors gain a small bump in P3 — the difference is usually visible side-by-side on wide-gamut hardware but won't change the character of the color.

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