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blue · cool

#8f8eb9

a balanced, soft blue · cool · closest name: Light Slate Gray

Token name suggestion: Studio Denim

RGB
143, 142, 185
HSL
241°, 24%, 64%
CMYK
23, 23, 0, 28
Luminance
0.2869

#8f8eb9 is a balanced soft blue, 241° on the wheel and 72/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (6.74:1). As text it scores 3.12:1 on white — large text only. Nearest name is Light Slate Gray, nearest Tailwind family is slate.

hsl(241 24% 64%)rgb(143 142 185)Base step 400AA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #8f8eb9 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#8f8eb9
Hue
241°
blue
Saturation
24%
soft
Lightness
64%
balanced
Brightness
73%
HSV value
Perceived
58%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.2869
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
72/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
6.74:1
Closest name
Light Slate Gray
ΔE2000 12.8
Chroma
24.3
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.663
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
slate
500 · ΔE 14.8
Web-safe
#9999CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue241° of 360°
Saturation24%
Lightness64%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #8f8eb9.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool72% 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
Red20%
Green67%
Blue12%

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

Every format

HEX#8f8eb9
HEX (8-digit)#8f8eb9ff
RGBrgb(143, 142, 185)
RGBArgba(143, 142, 185, 1)
HSLhsl(241, 24%, 64%)
HSV / HSBhsv(241, 23%, 73%)
HWBhwb(241 56% 27%)
CMYKcmyk(23%, 23%, 0%, 28%)
LABlab(60.5 9.7 -22.3)
LCHlch(60.5 24.3 293.6)
OKLCHoklch(0.663 0.063 285.6)
XYZ (D65)xyz(29.76, 28.69, 49.86)
Decimal9408185
Display P3color(display-p3 0.561 0.557 0.725)
Web-safe#9999CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #8f8eb9;
background-color: #8f8eb9;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #8f8eb9;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#8f8eb9] bg-[#8f8eb9]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #8f8eb9;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.561, green: 0.557, blue: 0.725)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.561, green: 0.557, blue: 0.725, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#8F8EB9</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF8F8EB9)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF8F8EB9)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(185, 142, 143)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(143, 142, 185)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(143, 142, 185)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 143, 142, 185)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.5608f, 0.5569f, 0.7255f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{143,142,185}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #8f8eb9 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #8f8eb9 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#31314F, #DAD9E8);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #8f8eb9 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: #F6F6F9;
  --brand-100: #EDEDF3;
  --brand-200: #D7D7E5;
  --brand-300: #BABAD4;
  --brand-400: #8f8eb9;
  --brand-500: #7674A9;
  --brand-600: #5F5E97;
  --brand-700: #4F4E7E;
  --brand-800: #3F3E65;
  --brand-900: #31304A;
  --brand-950: #1E1E2F;
  --brand: #8f8eb9;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F6F6F9;
  --brand-border: #CDCDE0;
  --brand-hover: #7978AB;
  --brand-pressed: #63629E;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #161523;
    --brand-ink: #DAD9E8;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F6F6F9',
        100: '#EDEDF3',
        200: '#D7D7E5',
        300: '#BABAD4',
        400: '#8f8eb9',
        500: '#7674A9',
        600: '#5F5E97',
        700: '#4F4E7E',
        800: '#3F3E65',
        900: '#31304A',
        950: '#1E1E2F',
        DEFAULT: '#8f8eb9',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F6F6F9,
  '100': #EDEDF3,
  '200': #D7D7E5,
  '300': #BABAD4,
  '400': #8f8eb9,
  '500': #7674A9,
  '600': #5F5E97,
  '700': #4F4E7E,
  '800': #3F3E65,
  '900': #31304A,
  '950': #1E1E2F,
);
$brand-base: #8f8eb9;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F6F6F9", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EDEDF3", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D7D7E5", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#BABAD4", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#8f8eb9", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#7674A9", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#5F5E97", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#4F4E7E", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#3F3E65", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#31304A", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#1E1E2F", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #8f8eb9 · 6.74:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 3.12:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 6.74:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #8f8eb9 as text scores 3.12:1 on white and 6.74:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #31314F at 4.00:1.

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
#706EA5 · 4.71:1
AA on white−10% L
#706EA5
The quick fox
#535285 · 7.21:1
AAA on white−22% L
#535285
The quick fox
#8f8eb9 · 6.74:1
AA on blackalready passes
#8f8eb9
The quick fox
#9594BD · 7.25:1
AAA on black+2% L
#9594BD

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #8F8EB9 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
#8f8eb9 on white: 3.12:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#8f8eb9 on black: 6.74:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #8f8eb9 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #8f8eb9.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White3.12:1AaAa
Slate 502.98:1AaAa
Slate 1002.85:1AaAa
Slate 2002.53:1AaAa
Slate 3002.10:1AaAa
Slate 4001.22:1AaAa
Slate 5001.53:1AaAa
Slate 6002.43:1AaAa
Slate 7003.32:1AaAa
Slate 8004.69:1AaAa
Slate 9005.73:1AaAa
Black6.74:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #8393BB
deuteranopia · #8291B8
tritanopia · #86959D

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. #8f8eb9 is pinned to step 400; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F6F6F9
#EDEDF3
#D7D7E5
#BABAD4
#8f8eb9
#7674A9
#5F5E97
#4F4E7E
#3F3E65
#31304A
#1E1E2F
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F6F6F9Darkest = 950 · #1E1E2FText step on white = 600
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 0.016 285.6);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.025 285.6);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.038 285.6);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.049 285.6);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.058 285.6);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.063 285.6);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.063 285.6);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.060 285.6);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.053 285.6);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.044 285.6);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.035 285.6);
}

Colors that work with #8f8eb9

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#F6F6F9
Tinted page background
Border#CDCDE0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#59588E
Captions on the surface
Accent#82754A
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#31314F
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EFEFF5
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#161523
Dark-mode background
Hover#7978AB
One step down in lightness
Pressed#63629E
Two steps down
Disabled#D4D4E3
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#9492C9
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 #8f8eb9

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

Works well for
  • Headings from 24px up on white
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Charts, tags and secondary surfaces
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
  • Chart series and data categories
Use with care
  • Small text on white — under 4.5:1
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate
Minimum size as text on white
24px / 18.66px bold
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #31314F
Safe as a 1px border on white
Yes

Meaning and mood

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

trustedcalmcompetentcorporate

The default of institutions for a reason: blue is read as stable and safe across nearly every culture that has been surveyed.

The muted chroma softens the association — it reads considered rather than loud, which suits long-form and data-heavy screens. The mid lightness keeps it versatile in both themes.

Worth knowing

It is also the most crowded hue on the web. Distinctiveness has to come from your other choices.

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium
  • Weight36/100
  • 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#B8B98E
Analogous left#8EA2B9
Analogous right#A48EB9
Split-complement 1#B9A48E
Split-complement 2#A2B98E
Triadic 1#B98F8E
Triadic 2#8EB98F
Tetradic#B98EA2
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°241°

#8f8eb9 sits at 241°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red56.1%
Green55.7%
Blue72.5%
R · 0–255
143
0x8f
G · 0–255
142
0x8e
B · 0–255
185
0xb9

CMYK percentages

Cyan22.7%
Magenta23.2%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)27.5%

Total ink coverage is 73%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#8f8eb9 text on a black background

contrast 6.74:1

Card sample

#8f8eb9 text on a white background

contrast 3.12:1

Card sample

#8f8eb9 on grey

2.85:1

#8f8eb9 on its own surface

2.89:1

#8f8eb9 on its dark surface

5.78:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #8f8eb9;
Background color
Panel with #8f8eb9 background
background-color: #8f8eb9;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #8f8eb9;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(143, 142, 185, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(143, 142, 185, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #8f8eb9;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #8f8eb9, #AC8EB9);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #8f8eb9, #B68EB9);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #8f8eb9;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #8f8eb9;
caret-color: #8f8eb9;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #8f8eb9;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EFEFF5;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #8f8eb9;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#8f8eb9 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #8f8eb9 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(143, 142, 185, 0.5)
rgb(143 142 185 / 50%)
#8f8eb980
hsl(241 24% 64% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #8f8eb9 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#8f8eb91a#F4F4F8
20%#8f8eb933#E9E8F1
40%#8f8eb966#D2D2E3
60%#8f8eb999#BCBBD5
80%#8f8eb9cc#A5A5C7

Gradients from #8f8eb9

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, #B4B4D0, #8f8eb9 45%, #31314F);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #8f8eb9, #A27BAD);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #8f8eb9, #B8B98E);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #C7C7DC 0%, #8f8eb9 45%, #31314F 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F6F6F9, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #ADBFCC 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #B7A1C5 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #31314F 0%, transparent 65%), #8f8eb9;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #8f8eb9

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.

#8f8eb9 in the real world

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

Industries
TechnologyFinanceHealthcareEnterprise SaaS
Common UI roles
ButtonsLinksFocus statesCharts
Print note

Converts to four-color process without much drama. Proof it anyway.

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 6.74:1.

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.

#8f8eb9, answered

What color is #8f8eb9?

#8f8eb9 is a balanced soft blue, closest to Light Slate Gray (ΔE2000 12.8). It sits at 241° on the hue wheel with 24% saturation and 64% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #8f8eb9?

rgb(143, 142, 185) — 143 red, 142 green and 185 blue out of 255, or 56.1% / 55.7% / 72.5% by channel.

What is #8f8eb9 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(241, 24%, 64%) and hsv(241, 23%, 73%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #8f8eb9 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.2869 and perceived brightness is 58%, so black text on it reaches 6.74:1.

Should I use black or white text on #8f8eb9?

Black. It scores 6.74:1 against #8f8eb9, versus 3.12:1 for white — AA at any size.

Is #8f8eb9 accessible on a white background?

#8f8eb9 on white scores 3.12:1, which only clears AA for large text — 18.66px bold or 24px regular and up. Darken it to #706EA5 to reach 4.5:1, or #535285 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #8f8eb9?

#B8B98E sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #B9A48E and #A2B98E, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #8f8eb9?

For interface work: #F6F6F9 as the surface, #CDCDE0 for borders, #59588E for secondary text, #82754A as an accent and #31314F for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #8EA2B9 and #A48EB9 stays calm, while #B8B98E is the loudest partner.

What is #8f8eb9 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(23%, 23%, 0%, 28%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #8f8eb9 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 72 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #9F8EB9; nudged cooler, #8C9CBB.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #8f8eb9?

The slate family — its 500 step is #64748b, ΔE2000 14.8 away. That is a visible difference, so define #8f8eb9 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #8f8eb9 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#8f8eb9] or text-[#8f8eb9], 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 #8f8eb9 with 50% opacity?

rgba(143, 142, 185, 0.5), or #8f8eb980 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #C7C7DC; over black, #48475D.

Is #8f8eb9 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #9999CC, ΔE2000 4.2 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #8f8eb9 mean?

As a blue, it reads trusted, calm, competent. The default of institutions for a reason: blue is read as stable and safe across nearly every culture that has been surveyed. At this moderate chroma the association is present but not shouted.

What gradient works with #8f8eb9?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #B4B4D0, #8f8eb9 45%, #31314F). For more colour, a short hue run to #A27BAD keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #8f8eb9 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #8f8eb9 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.