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Even Oolong

#9fcbda
Notes

Even Oolong (#9FCBDA) is a soft 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 (195°, 44%, 74%) places it in the balanced band at a light lightness. It works as a background wash, large-area fill, or soft illustration tone. Add a darker ink of the same hue when you need type over it. For a confident two-color system, pair it with its complementary orange. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#9fcbda
RGB
rgb(159, 203, 218)
HSL
hsl(195, 44%, 74%)
HWB
hwb(195 62% 15%)
OKLCH
oklch(81.6% 0.051 220.7)
P3
color(display-p3 0.6585 0.7911 0.8475)
HSV
hsv(195, 27%, 85%)
LAB
lab(79.12% -11.00 -12.16)
LCH
lch(79.12% 16.40 227.87)
CMYK
cmyk(27%, 7%, 0%, 15%)

Etymology

Even
adjective

Old English efen, flat, equal — used as a color modifier since the medieval period for hues that read as uniformly distributed across a surface. Even gray, even tan: the implication is moderate saturation combined with optical uniformity. Sits at the crisp-bucket center alongside steady and balanced.

Oolong
noun

The partially-oxidized Chinese tea — qīng-chá (cyan tea) — with the deep blue-green liquor distinct from green tea (lower oxidation) and black tea (higher oxidation). The color refers to fresh-brewed Tieguanyin oolong: a saturated, slightly cool deep blue-green with the optical depth of partially-fermented tea liquor.

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.

#9fcbda
Original
#c2c8db
Protanopia
#b8c1da
Deuteranopia
#8cd0d0
Tritanopia
#c3c3c3
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
1.75:1
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
12.03:1

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
##9FCBDA
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.6585 0.7911 0.8475)
Inside sRGBOKLCH chroma 0.051

This color sits well within the sRGB cube. P3 and sRGB share the gray axis and most desaturated tones, so a P3 display renders this identically to an sRGB display.

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