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Functional Kimono Verdigris

#54b5af
Notes

Functional Kimono Verdigris (#54B5AF) is a true cyan with a cool character. It leans cool, sitting on the blue, green, and violet side of the wheel. Quiet and dependable, a fit for product UI and data visualization. Its HSL profile (176°, 40%, 52%) 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
#54b5af
RGB
rgb(84, 181, 175)
HSL
hsl(176, 40%, 52%)
HWB
hwb(176 33% 29%)
OKLCH
oklch(71.3% 0.092 189.9)
P3
color(display-p3 0.4301 0.7012 0.6838)
HSV
hsv(176, 54%, 71%)
LAB
lab(68.04% -29.88 -5.63)
LCH
lch(68.04% 30.41 190.67)
CMYK
cmyk(54%, 0%, 3%, 29%)

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.

Kimono
modifier

Japanese kimono, thing-to-wear. As a color modifier, kimono implies a Japanese-kimono-and-furisode-and-tomesode quality, the visual register of Edo-and-Heian-kimono-and-furisode hand-Japanese-kimono-and-furisode-and-tomesode Edo-and-Heian-kimono-and-furisode-and-Kyoto-Nishijin kimono-and-Japanese-kimono-and-furisode surfaces under Edo-and-Heian-kimono-and-furisode-and-Kyoto-Nishijin Heian-Kyoto-and-Edo-Tokugawa Japanese-court-light. Sits at the modifier-and-textile end of the grid, parallel to haori and sari 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.

#54b5af
Original
#acadaf
Protanopia
#9ca1b0
Deuteranopia
#00b9b3
Tritanopia
#a0a0a0
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
2.44:1
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
8.61:1

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
##54B5AF
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.4301 0.7012 0.6838)
P3 has subtle headroomOKLCH chroma 0.092

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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