ColorXprez

#535C4E

Umber · dark cool gray

About #535C4E

#535C4E is a dark, muted gray colour. Digitally that works out to 33% red, 36% green and 31% blue. In CMYK print terms it is 10% cyan, 0% magenta, 15% yellow and 64% black. Most people will perceive it as cool.

Visually it is similar to Umber (ΔE 12.5), with Graphite the next nearest named colour. Across the colour wheel sits #574E5C (eggplant), 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 6.98:1 (a WCAG AA pass). Used as a text colour on white, it is readable too (6.98:1).

Colour codes

HEX
RGB
HSL
HSV / HSB
CMYK
CIELAB
Decimal
CSS
Red83
Green92
Blue78

Closest named colours

Umber
#635147 · ΔE 12.5
Graphite
#383838 · ΔE 17.2
Charcoal
#36454F · ΔE 17.9

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

Text on #535C4E

WCAG contrast for white and black text on this colour.

White heading text
Body copy set on umber #535C4E.
6.98:1AA
Black heading text
Body copy set on umber #535C4E.
3.01:1AA Large

Colour-blindness preview

How #535C4E appears to people with the three most common types of colour-vision deficiency.

Normal vision
#535C4E
Protanopia (no red cones)
#5D5A4D
Deuteranopia (no green cones)
#5C594F
Tritanopia (no blue cones)
#535B58

Shades, tints & matching colours

Tints and shades

Complementary

Analogous

Triadic

Split complementary

Tetradic

Similar colours

Frequently asked questions

›What colour is #535C4E?

#535C4E is a dark, muted gray colour. Digitally that works out to 33% red, 36% green and 31% blue. In CMYK print terms it is 10% cyan, 0% magenta, 15% yellow and 64% black. Most people will perceive it as cool.

›What text colour should I use on #535C4E?

Use white text. White on #535C4E has a contrast ratio of 6.98:1 (AA).

›What colours go with #535C4E?

Its complementary colour is #574E5C, and analogous partners are #5A5C4E and #4E5C50.