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cyan · cool

#08ab88

a dark, electric cyan · cool · closest name: Medium Sea Green

Token name suggestion: Dusk Teal

RGB
8, 171, 136
HSL
167°, 91%, 35%
CMYK
95, 0, 21, 33
Luminance
0.3096

#08ab88 is a dark electric cyan, 167° on the wheel and 82/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (7.19:1). As text it scores 2.92:1 on white — use #068469 instead. Nearest name is Medium Sea Green, nearest Tailwind family is emerald.

hsl(167 91% 35%)rgb(8 171 136)Base step 800AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #08ab88 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#08ab88
Hue
167°
cyan
Saturation
91%
electric
Lightness
35%
dark
Brightness
67%
HSV value
Perceived
54%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3096
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
82/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
7.19:1
Closest name
Medium Sea Green
ΔE2000 8.4
Chroma
46.0
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.660
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
emerald
500 · ΔE 6.2
Web-safe
#009999
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue167° of 360°
Saturation91%
Lightness35%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #08ab88.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool82% cool

Reads cool. Warm and cool siblings keep the same lightness, so you can swap one in without redoing your contrast maths.

Luminance by channel
Red0%
Green94%
Blue6%

Green carries most of what the eye calls brightness — that is why WCAG weights it 0.7152.

Every format

HEX#08ab88
HEX (8-digit)#08ab88ff
RGBrgb(8, 171, 136)
RGBArgba(8, 171, 136, 1)
HSLhsl(167, 91%, 35%)
HSV / HSBhsv(167, 95%, 67%)
HWBhwb(167 3% 33%)
CMYKcmyk(95%, 0%, 21%, 33%)
LABlab(62.5 -45.3 7.7)
LCHlch(62.5 46.0 170.3)
OKLCHoklch(0.660 0.128 171.2)
XYZ (D65)xyz(19.10, 30.95, 28.26)
Decimal568200
Display P3color(display-p3 0.031 0.671 0.533)
Web-safe#009999

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #08ab88;
background-color: #08ab88;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #08ab88;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#08ab88] bg-[#08ab88]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #08ab88;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.031, green: 0.671, blue: 0.533)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.031, green: 0.671, blue: 0.533, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#08AB88</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF08AB88)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF08AB88)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(136, 171, 8)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(8, 171, 136)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(8, 171, 136)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 8, 171, 136)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.0314f, 0.6706f, 0.5333f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{8,171,136}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #08ab88 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #08ab88 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#067A61, #D3EEE8);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #08ab88 h s calc(l - 7));

Design tokens

The same ramp in the four formats a team actually needs. Paste one and the whole palette lands with it.

css custom propertiesclick to select
:root {
  --brand-50: #F2FDFB;
  --brand-100: #E5FBF6;
  --brand-200: #C3F9ED;
  --brand-300: #94FAE4;
  --brand-400: #5EF8D7;
  --brand-500: #29F5C9;
  --brand-600: #0BEABA;
  --brand-700: #09C39B;
  --brand-800: #08ab88;
  --brand-900: #0A705A;
  --brand-950: #064639;
  --brand: #08ab88;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4FAF9;
  --brand-border: #C0EDE3;
  --brand-hover: #06896D;
  --brand-pressed: #056752;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #142421;
    --brand-ink: #D3EEE8;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F2FDFB',
        100: '#E5FBF6',
        200: '#C3F9ED',
        300: '#94FAE4',
        400: '#5EF8D7',
        500: '#29F5C9',
        600: '#0BEABA',
        700: '#09C39B',
        800: '#08ab88',
        900: '#0A705A',
        950: '#064639',
        DEFAULT: '#08ab88',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F2FDFB,
  '100': #E5FBF6,
  '200': #C3F9ED,
  '300': #94FAE4,
  '400': #5EF8D7,
  '500': #29F5C9,
  '600': #0BEABA,
  '700': #09C39B,
  '800': #08ab88,
  '900': #0A705A,
  '950': #064639,
);
$brand-base: #08ab88;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F2FDFB", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#E5FBF6", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#C3F9ED", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#94FAE4", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#5EF8D7", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#29F5C9", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#0BEABA", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#09C39B", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#08ab88", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#0A705A", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#064639", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$value": "#000000", "$type": "color" }
  }
}

Best text color

Only one of black and white can be right. This is the one, with the number that proves it.

Readable at a glance#000000 on #08ab88 · 7.19:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.92:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 7.19:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #08ab88 as text scores 2.92:1 on white and 7.19:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #067A61 at 1.81:1.

Make it accessible

A contrast checker tells you that you failed. This tells you what to ship instead — same hue, same saturation, lightness moved only as far as WCAG demands.

The quick fox
#068469 · 4.65:1
AA on white−8% L
#068469
The quick fox
#05624E · 7.33:1
AAA on white−15% L
#05624E
The quick fox
#08ab88 · 7.19:1
AA on blackalready passes
#08ab88
The quick fox
#08ab88 · 7.19:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#08ab88

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #08A684 is enough for headings on white. Non-text elements such as icons, chart strokes and focus rings also sit at 3:1 under WCAG 2.2 (1.4.11).

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#08ab88 on white: 2.92:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#08ab88 on black: 7.19:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #08ab88 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #08ab88.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.92:1AaAa
Slate 502.79:1AaAa
Slate 1002.67:1AaAa
Slate 2002.37:1AaAa
Slate 3001.97:1AaAa
Slate 4001.14:1AaAa
Slate 5001.63:1AaAa
Slate 6002.59:1AaAa
Slate 7003.55:1AaAa
Slate 8005.01:1AaAa
Slate 9006.11:1AaAa
Black7.19:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #A59F86
deuteranopia · #94928A
tritanopia · #00ADA1

Roughly one man in twelve has some form of colour vision deficiency. If any of the three panels above is hard to tell apart from a neighbouring colour in your palette, add a shape, an icon or a label so the meaning does not rest on hue alone.

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #08ab88 is pinned to step 800; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F2FDFB
#E5FBF6
#C3F9ED
#94FAE4
#5EF8D7
#29F5C9
#0BEABA
#09C39B
#08ab88
#0A705A
#064639
Base = 800Lightest = 50 · #F2FDFBDarkest = 950 · #064639Text step on white = 900
Perceptual ramp — OKLCH

The same eleven steps expressed in OKLCH, where equal lightness numbers actually look equally spaced. HSL ramps go muddy in the yellows and washed out in the blues; this one does not. Modern browsers render it natively — the hex ramp above is the fallback.

50100200300400500600700800900950
oklch tokensclick to select
:root {
  --brand-50: oklch(0.97 0.032 171.2);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.051 171.2);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.077 171.2);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.100 171.2);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.118 171.2);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.128 171.2);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.128 171.2);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.120 171.2);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.108 171.2);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.090 171.2);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.070 171.2);
}

Colors that work with #08ab88

Not a palette — a role sheet. Each swatch answers one question you will hit while building the component.

Text on it#000000
Black wins here
Surface#F4FAF9
Tinted page background
Border#C0EDE3
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B9B8A
Captions on the surface
Accent#AF0454
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#067A61
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E7FEF9
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142421
Dark-mode background
Hover#06896D
One step down in lightness
Pressed#056752
Two steps down
Disabled#7AAA9F
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#00C79D
Offset from the fill so it reads
Light mode
Everything in its place

Surface, border, heading and body all derive from this one hue, so the screen stays coherent without a second palette.

Primary actionSecondaryBadge
Dark mode
Same hue, inverted

Lightness flips, hue holds. The accent stays the anchor in both themes.

Primary actionSecondaryAccent

In real components

The same eight roles, wired into the interface patterns you will actually build with them. Every state below is a computed value, not a mock-up.

Buttons and states
Save changesHoverPressedDisabled
OutlineSubtleLinkFocused
Form field
you@company.com

Focus ring uses the light variant so the field still reads as one shape.

Send me product updates
Notice
Your export is ready

The file stays available for seven days. Download it before it expires.

NewBetaDraft
Data
Storage used68%
Acme LtdActive
NorthwindTrial
GlobexActive

How to use #08ab88

Derived from its contrast, chroma and lightness — not from taste.

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Primary buttons and calls to action
  • Focus rings, active and selected states
  • Headers, footers and dark-mode surfaces
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • Black text placed on it
  • Thin strokes and 1px borders — they disappear on light UI
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate
Minimum size as text on white
Not as text
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #067A61
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #08A684

Meaning and mood

What a colour in this family tends to signal, and how this particular chroma and lightness change the reading.

cleantechnicalfreshclinical

Cyan reads as water, air and infrastructure: cool, hygienic, engineered.

At this chroma the association is amplified — it will dominate anything placed beside it, so give it space and use it sparingly. The low lightness adds weight and formality.

Worth knowing

At high lightness it disappears into white surfaces and thin strokes vanish entirely.

Reads as
  • FormalityHigh
  • EnergyHigh
  • Weight65/100
  • TemperatureCool
  • ApproachabilityReserved

Colour associations are cultural and vary by market. Treat these as a starting point for a conversation with your audience, not a finding about them.

Similar colors

One move away from this hex in each direction. Every swatch is its own page.

Color relationships

The wheel positions with their names attached, so you can grab the one you actually need.

Complementary#AB082B
Analogous left#08AB36
Analogous right#087DAB
Split-complement 1#AB087D
Split-complement 2#AB3608
Triadic 1#8808AB
Triadic 2#AB8808
Tetradic#3608AB
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°167°

#08ab88 sits at 167°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red3.1%
Green67.1%
Blue53.3%
R · 0–255
8
0x08
G · 0–255
171
0xab
B · 0–255
136
0x88

CMYK percentages

Cyan95.3%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow20.5%
Key (black)32.9%

Total ink coverage is 149%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#08ab88 text on a black background

contrast 7.19:1

Card sample

#08ab88 text on a white background

contrast 2.92:1

Card sample

#08ab88 on grey

2.67:1

#08ab88 on its own surface

2.77:1

#08ab88 on its dark surface

5.51:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #08ab88;
Background color
Panel with #08ab88 background
background-color: #08ab88;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #08ab88;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(8, 171, 136, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(8, 171, 136, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #08ab88;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #08ab88, #0861AB);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #08ab88, #0839AB);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #08ab88;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #08ab88;
caret-color: #08ab88;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #08ab88;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #E7FEF9;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #08ab88;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#08ab88 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #08ab88 over white; the bottom row is the same alpha over a checkerboard, so you can see what survives on a photo or a video.

Bottom row of hexes is the flattened result over white — use those when a design tool refuses transparency, or when you need a solid fallback.

alpha in every syntaxclick to select
rgba(8, 171, 136, 0.5)
rgb(8 171 136 / 50%)
#08ab8880
hsl(167 91% 35% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #08ab88 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#08ab881a#E6F7F3
20%#08ab8833#CEEEE7
40%#08ab8866#9CDDCF
60%#08ab8899#6BCDB8
80%#08ab88cc#39BCA0

Gradients from #08ab88

Six recipes, each built from this hex and shown with the exact CSS that produced it.

Elevation
Same hue, three lightnesses — safe anywhere
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #0BE6B6, #08ab88 45%, #067A61);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #08ab88, #07458E);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #08ab88, #AB082B);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #1AF4C6 0%, #08ab88 45%, #067A61 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F4FAF9, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #0ADC34 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #0982C8 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #067A61 0%, transparent 65%), #08ab88;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #08ab88

Shades — darker

Tints — lighter

Tones — desaturated

Color harmonies

Nearest named colors

Ranked with CIEDE2000 across all 139 CSS keywords. Under ΔE 2 the eye stops telling them apart; over ΔE 10 they are plainly different colors.

#08ab88 in the real world

Where a color in this family tends to land, and the interface roles it is usually asked to play.

Industries
TechnologyTravelHealthcareMedia
Common UI roles
ButtonsLinksFocus statesCharts
Print note

Sits outside most CMYK gamuts — expect a duller press result, or specify a spot ink.

On screens

Holds up across typical panel gamma. Still worth checking on an uncalibrated laptop, where mid-tones shift most.

In dark mode

Usable as-is on a dark surface at 7.19:1.

Explore nearby colors

Small, deliberate steps away from this hex — useful when you are hunting for the version of a colour that finally feels right.

#08ab88, answered

What color is #08ab88?

#08ab88 is a dark electric cyan, closest to Medium Sea Green (ΔE2000 8.4). It sits at 167° on the hue wheel with 91% saturation and 35% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #08ab88?

rgb(8, 171, 136) — 8 red, 171 green and 136 blue out of 255, or 3.1% / 67.1% / 53.3% by channel.

What is #08ab88 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(167, 91%, 35%) and hsv(167, 95%, 67%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #08ab88 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3096 and perceived brightness is 54%, so black text on it reaches 7.19:1.

Should I use black or white text on #08ab88?

Black. It scores 7.19:1 against #08ab88, versus 2.92:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #08ab88 accessible on a white background?

#08ab88 on white scores 2.92:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #068469 to reach 4.5:1, or #05624E for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #08ab88?

#AB082B sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #AB087D and #AB3608, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #08ab88?

For interface work: #F4FAF9 as the surface, #C0EDE3 for borders, #4B9B8A for secondary text, #AF0454 as an accent and #067A61 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #08AB36 and #087DAB stays calm, while #AB082B is the loudest partner.

What is #08ab88 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(95%, 0%, 21%, 33%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — a color this saturated sits outside most CMYK gamuts and will print duller than it looks here.

Is #08ab88 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 82 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #08AB4C; nudged cooler, #0694AD.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #08ab88?

The emerald family — its 500 step is #10b981, ΔE2000 6.2 away. That is a visible difference, so define #08ab88 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #08ab88 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#08ab88] or text-[#08ab88], or register the whole ramp under theme.extend.colors.brand so you get bg-brand-500 and friends. The generated 50–950 scale on this page is ready to paste into your config.

What is #08ab88 with 50% opacity?

rgba(8, 171, 136, 0.5), or #08ab8880 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #84D5C4; over black, #045644.

Is #08ab88 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #009999, ΔE2000 13 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #08ab88 mean?

As a cyan, it reads clean, technical, fresh. Cyan reads as water, air and infrastructure: cool, hygienic, engineered. At this chroma the effect is amplified — it will dominate whatever sits beside it.

What gradient works with #08ab88?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #0BE6B6, #08ab88 45%, #067A61). For more colour, a short hue run to #07458E keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #08ab88 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #08ab88 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.