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Hemmed Seagrass

#5bf0e4
Notes

Hemmed Seagrass (#5BF0E4) 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 (175°, 83%, 65%) 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
#5bf0e4
RGB
rgb(91, 240, 228)
HSL
hsl(175, 83%, 65%)
HWB
hwb(175 36% 6%)
OKLCH
oklch(87.3% 0.127 187.6)
HSV
hsv(175, 62%, 94%)
LAB
lab(87.07% -42.05 -5.96)
LCH
lch(87.07% 42.47 188.07)
CMYK
cmyk(62%, 0%, 5%, 6%)

Etymology

Hemmed
adjective

Old English hem, border — past-participle of hem. As a color modifier, hemmed implies a clear-and-finished-and-bordered quality where the hue carries the visual register of carefully-hemmed-and-finished textile-edge. Sits at the crisp-and-finished end of the grid, parallel to trim and finished in usage.

Seagrass
noun

Marine flowering plants — distinct from algae — that form underwater meadows in shallow coastal waters worldwide. Genera include Zostera, Posidonia, Thalassia. The color refers to a tropical seagrass meadow at low tide: a soft, slightly cool deep blue-green with the satin finish of submerged grass-leaves.

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.

#5bf0e4
Original
#e4e4e4
Protanopia
#cdd3e6
Deuteranopia
#00f6ec
Tritanopia
#cfcfcf
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
1.40:1
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
15.03:1

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