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Monogreymid

Cool Stone Smoke

#a5a1ad
Notes

Cool Stone Smoke (#A5A1AD) is a balanced neutral with a mono character. It's a grayscale value, at home in typography, dividers, and the structural layer beneath stronger colors. Its HSL profile (260°, 7%, 65%) places it in the muted band at a mid lightness. It works well as secondary text, borders, and placeholder states. A reliable middle gray that reads cleanly in either light or dark contexts. Pair it with almost any saturated accent. It's built to sit underneath or behind stronger colors without fighting them.

HEX
#a5a1ad
RGB
rgb(165, 161, 173)
HSL
hsl(260, 7%, 65%)
HWB
hwb(260 63% 32%)
OKLCH
oklch(71.6% 0.018 301.1)
HSV
hsv(260, 7%, 68%)
LAB
lab(66.90% 3.76 -5.69)
LCH
lch(66.90% 6.82 303.42)
CMYK
cmyk(5%, 7%, 0%, 32%)

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.

#a5a1ad
Original
#9fa3ae
Protanopia
#a0a3ad
Deuteranopia
#a4a3a5
Tritanopia
#a3a3a3
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
2.53:1
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
8.30:1

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Canvas