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Direct Atacamite

#66c3b8
Notes

Direct Atacamite (#66C3B8) is a true teal 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 (173°, 44%, 58%) 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
#66c3b8
RGB
rgb(102, 195, 184)
HSL
hsl(173, 44%, 58%)
HWB
hwb(173 40% 24%)
OKLCH
oklch(75.7% 0.091 185.5)
HSV
hsv(173, 48%, 76%)
LAB
lab(73.10% -30.35 -3.03)
LCH
lch(73.10% 30.50 185.69)
CMYK
cmyk(48%, 0%, 6%, 24%)

Etymology

Direct
adjective

From the Latin directus, straight — used as a color modifier since the eighteenth century for hues that read as straightforward and unambiguous. Direct red, direct green: moderate-to-high saturation combined with optical clarity. Sits at the crisp-bucket center alongside clear and frank.

Atacamite
noun

A copper-chloride mineral named for the Atacama Desert of Chile where it was first described. Atacamite forms in arid copper-mineral deposits worldwide. The color refers to a clean atacamite crystal: a saturated, slightly cool deep emerald-green with the satin finish of crystallized secondary copper mineral.

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.

#66c3b8
Original
#bbbab8
Protanopia
#abafb9
Deuteranopia
#38c7bf
Tritanopia
#aeaeae
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
2.09:1
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
10.06:1

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