ColorXprez

#424B5B

Charcoal · dark cool blue

About #424B5B

#424B5B is a dark, muted blue colour. Digitally that works out to 26% red, 29% green and 36% blue. In CMYK print terms it is 27% cyan, 18% magenta, 0% yellow and 64% black. Most people will perceive it as cool.

Visually it is very close to Charcoal (ΔE 5.7), with Gunmetal the next nearest named colour. Across the colour wheel sits #5B5242 (umber), its complementary partner.

Because it is dark, it is most useful for headings, body text, footers and dark-mode backgrounds. Put white text on top of it — 8.79:1, a WCAG AAA pass. Used as a text colour on white, it is readable too (8.79:1).

Colour codes

HEX
RGB
HSL
HSV / HSB
CMYK
CIELAB
Decimal
CSS
Red66
Green75
Blue91

Closest named colours

Charcoal
#36454F · ΔE 5.7
Gunmetal
#2A3439 · ΔE 12.7
Graphite
#383838 · ΔE 13.4

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

Text on #424B5B

WCAG contrast for white and black text on this colour.

White heading text
Body copy set on charcoal #424B5B.
8.79:1AAA
Black heading text
Body copy set on charcoal #424B5B.
2.39:1Fail

Colour-blindness preview

How #424B5B appears to people with the three most common types of colour-vision deficiency.

Normal vision
#424B5B
Protanopia (no red cones)
#464C5C
Deuteranopia (no green cones)
#43495B
Tritanopia (no blue cones)
#3B4E50

Shades, tints & matching colours

Tints and shades

Complementary

Analogous

Triadic

Split complementary

Tetradic

Similar colours

Frequently asked questions

›What colour is #424B5B?

#424B5B is a dark, muted blue colour. Digitally that works out to 26% red, 29% green and 36% blue. In CMYK print terms it is 27% cyan, 18% magenta, 0% yellow and 64% black. Most people will perceive it as cool.

›What text colour should I use on #424B5B?

Use white text. White on #424B5B has a contrast ratio of 8.79:1 (AAA).

›What colours go with #424B5B?

Its complementary colour is #5B5242, and analogous partners are #42585B and #46425B.