colors
Back to gallery

Effervescent Bittersweet

#dc7239
Notes

Effervescent Bittersweet (#DC7239) is a true orange with a vibrant character. It holds its own as a focal accent, carrying visual weight without tipping into neon territory. Its HSL profile (21°, 70%, 54%) 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 azure. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#dc7239
RGB
rgb(220, 114, 57)
HSL
hsl(21, 70%, 54%)
HWB
hwb(21 22% 14%)
OKLCH
oklch(66.5% 0.150 46.6)
HSV
hsv(21, 74%, 86%)
LAB
lab(59.48% 37.34 48.97)
LCH
lch(59.48% 61.58 52.68)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 48%, 74%, 14%)

Etymology

Effervescent
adjective

Latin effervēscēns, boiling-out — present-participle of effervesce, sharing root with fervere (to boil). As a color modifier, effervescent implies a saturated-and-bubbling-and-active quality, the bright color of Champagne-and-Prosecco effervescent-wine carbonation-bubble-light reflection. Sits at the bright-and-effervescent end of the grid, parallel to fizzy and sparkling in usage.

Bittersweet
noun

Celastrus scandens, the North American climbing vine whose autumn fruits split to reveal orange-red arils against yellow capsules. The color refers to ripe bittersweet berries in October: a saturated, slightly red orange with the matte finish of fall berry skin. Warmer than rust, drier than tangerine.

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.

#dc7239
Original
#908132
Protanopia
#a99837
Deuteranopia
#f15c66
Tritanopia
#848484
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).
AA Largeon White
3.23:1
The quick brown foxSample body text at normal size. The wcag minimum for body contrast is 4.5:1 (AA) or 7:1 (AAA).
AAon Black
6.51:1

Related Colors

Canvas