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Utilitarian Weaver

#dcb853
Notes

Utilitarian Weaver (#DCB853) is a true amber with a vibrant character. It holds its own as a focal accent, carrying visual weight without tipping into neon territory. Its HSL profile (44°, 66%, 59%) 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
#dcb853
RGB
rgb(220, 184, 83)
HSL
hsl(44, 66%, 59%)
HWB
hwb(44 33% 14%)
OKLCH
oklch(79.5% 0.126 89.6)
P3
color(display-p3 0.8399 0.7268 0.3896)
HSV
hsv(44, 62%, 86%)
LAB
lab(76.15% 1.60 54.85)
LCH
lch(76.15% 54.88 88.33)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 16%, 62%, 14%)

Etymology

Utilitarian
adjective

Latin ūtilitās, usefulness — adjectival suffix -ian. As a color modifier, utilitarian implies a clear-and-purpose-fit-and-stripped-down quality, the crisp color of Shaker-and-Quaker anti-ornamental functional-and-no-frills craft tradition. Sits at the crisp-and-functional end of the grid, parallel to functional and workmanlike in usage.

Weaver
noun

The family Ploceidae — particularly Ploceus species, the African weavers whose males build elaborate woven nests and sport bright yellow breeding plumage. The color refers to a male southern masked weaver in breeding plumage: a saturated, slightly red yellow with the matte finish of bright carotenoid feathers.

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.

#dcb853
Original
#cbb648
Protanopia
#d4c057
Deuteranopia
#edaaa2
Tritanopia
#b8b8b8
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
1.90:1
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
11.02:1

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
##DCB853
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.8399 0.7268 0.3896)
P3 has subtle headroomOKLCH chroma 0.126

Moderately saturated colors gain a small bump in P3 — the difference is usually visible side-by-side on wide-gamut hardware but won't change the character of the color.

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