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Glistening Resin

#a9b514
Notes

Glistening Resin (#A9B514) is a true yellow with a warm character. It leans warm, pulling light toward red, orange, and yellow. Naturally inviting, it suits editorial and hospitality contexts. Its HSL profile (64°, 80%, 39%) 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 blue. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#a9b514
RGB
rgb(169, 181, 20)
HSL
hsl(64, 80%, 39%)
HWB
hwb(64 8% 29%)
OKLCH
oklch(73.9% 0.163 114.5)
HSV
hsv(64, 89%, 71%)
LAB
lab(70.55% -21.58 69.33)
LCH
lch(70.55% 72.61 107.29)
CMYK
cmyk(7%, 0%, 89%, 29%)

Etymology

Glistening
adjective

Old English glisnian, to glisten — present-participle of glisten, sharing root with German glitzern. As a color modifier, glistening implies a saturated-and-wet-or-polished-reflective quality, the bright color of fresh-rain-and-polished-silver surface-reflection. Sits at the bright-and-reflective end of the grid, parallel to shimmering and gleaming in usage.

Resin
noun

Plant-secreted aromatic compounds — pine sap, frankincense, copal, dammar — used as the binder for varnishes, the source of incense, and the pigment-binder for medieval European paint. The color refers to fresh pine resin on bark: a saturated, slightly cool pale gold-yellow with the slight translucency of fresh tree sap.

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.

#a9b514
Original
#c3ab00
Protanopia
#c2ae29
Deuteranopia
#b5aa9a
Tritanopia
#a7a7a7
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
2.26:1
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
9.31:1

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