ColorXprez

#3B3E4E

Charcoal · dark cool blue

About #3B3E4E

#3B3E4E is a dark, muted blue colour. Digitally that works out to 23% red, 24% green and 31% blue. In CMYK print terms it is 24% cyan, 21% magenta, 0% yellow and 69% black. Most people will perceive it as cool.

Visually it is very close to Charcoal (ΔE 6.7), with Gunmetal the next nearest named colour. Across the colour wheel sits #4E4B3B (umber), its complementary partner.

Because it is dark, it is most useful for headings, body text, footers and dark-mode backgrounds. White text reads best on it at 10.58:1 (a WCAG AAA pass). Used as a text colour on white, it is readable too (10.58:1).

Colour codes

HEX
RGB
HSL
HSV / HSB
CMYK
CIELAB
Decimal
CSS
Red59
Green62
Blue78

Closest named colours

Charcoal
#36454F · ΔE 6.7
Gunmetal
#2A3439 · ΔE 9.7
Graphite
#383838 · ΔE 10.9

ΔE measures visible difference: under 2 is barely noticeable, over 10 is clearly different.

Text on #3B3E4E

WCAG contrast for white and black text on this colour.

White heading text
Body copy set on charcoal #3B3E4E.
10.58:1AAA
Black heading text
Body copy set on charcoal #3B3E4E.
1.99:1Fail

Colour-blindness preview

How #3B3E4E appears to people with the three most common types of colour-vision deficiency.

Normal vision
#3B3E4E
Protanopia (no red cones)
#3A3F4F
Deuteranopia (no green cones)
#383E4E
Tritanopia (no blue cones)
#374143

Shades, tints & matching colours

Tints and shades

Complementary

Analogous

Triadic

Split complementary

Tetradic

Similar colours

Frequently asked questions

›What colour is #3B3E4E?

#3B3E4E is a dark, muted blue colour. Digitally that works out to 23% red, 24% green and 31% blue. In CMYK print terms it is 24% cyan, 21% magenta, 0% yellow and 69% black. Most people will perceive it as cool.

›What text colour should I use on #3B3E4E?

Use white text. White on #3B3E4E has a contrast ratio of 10.58:1 (AAA).

›What colours go with #3B3E4E?

Its complementary colour is #4E4B3B, and analogous partners are #3B484E and #423B4E.