Color #596F7D Color / Colour Code #596F7D
This page shows the hex color code for color #596f7d (#596F7D). The colour is a blue tone with 17% saturation and 42% lightness. Explore its conversions, colour palettes, gradients, accessibility data, and CSS code below.
Color Conversions
Accessibility Contrast
WCAG contrast ratios for #596F7D against common backgrounds.
Complementary Colors
#596F7D paired with its color wheel opposite for maximum contrast.
Analogous Colors
Hues at 173, 203, and 233 degrees for harmonious combinations.
Triadic Palette
Three colors at 203, 323, and 83 degrees.
Color Palettes Using #596F7D
Five shades at lightness levels 15% through 85% while keeping hue at 203 and saturation at 17%. Use the darkest shade for text and the lightest for backgrounds to build a cohesive single-hue design system.
Adjacent hues from 203 to 248 degrees create a warm, unified palette. This analogous scheme works for marketing materials, seasonal campaigns, and any design that needs visual warmth without clashing colors.
Combines the base color at hue 203 with its complement at 23 and two adjacent cool tones. This split-complementary approach provides strong visual contrast while remaining more balanced than a pure complementary scheme.
Five evenly spaced hues at 40% saturation and 80% lightness. Pastels are gentle on the eyes and work well for dashboards, onboarding screens, category tags, and any interface where multiple distinct colors are needed without visual aggression.
Shades & Tints of #596F7D
Lightness variations at hue 203 and 17% saturation.
CSS Gradients with #596F7D
Design Use Cases for #596F7D
Muted Accent Color
With 17% saturation, #596F7D has a subtle, sophisticated quality. This level of desaturation works well for secondary buttons, inactive states, subtle borders, and backgrounds that need a hint of color without being distracting. Muted colors communicate restraint and professionalism.
Primary Interface Color
At 42% lightness, #596F7D is in the mid-range, making it ideal for interactive elements like buttons, links, and selected states. This lightness level ensures good contrast against both light and dark adjacent elements in most layouts.
Trust & Professional Identity
#596F7D sits in the blue range (hue 203). Blue is the world's most popular color for corporate identities because it conveys trust, stability, and competence. Use it for navigation bars, link text, form focus states, and any element where user confidence matters. Financial, healthcare, and technology brands rely heavily on this hue range.
Gradient Pairing
Create a gradient from #596F7D (hue 203) to its complement at hue 23. For a subtler effect, try pairing with an analogous color at hue 233. Use CSS: background: linear-gradient(135deg, #596f7d, #7d6759);
CSS Code for #596F7D
Similar Colors
Colors visually similar to #596F7D based on RGB, lightness, and hue variations.
Use This Color in Design Tools
Apply #596F7D across image editing and color design tools.
About Color #596F7D (#596F7D)
#596F7D is a blue color (colour) with RGB channel values of 89 red, 111 green, and 125 blue. The blue channel is dominant with a relatively balanced channel distribution. In HSL terms, the hue sits at 203 degrees with 17% saturation and 42% lightness, placing it in the cool range of the colour spectrum.
The perceived brightness of #596F7D is 106/255 using the ITU-R BT.601 luma formula (0.299R + 0.587G + 0.114B). This appears dark to the human eye, so pair it with light text for adequate readability. For print production, the CMYK equivalent is 29% cyan, 11% magenta, 0% yellow, and 51% key (black).
The WCAG contrast ratio of #596F7D against white is 5.26:1 and against black is 3.99:1. This meets the AA requirement (4.5:1) for normal text on white. For AAA compliance, consider darkening to at least 29% lightness.
The complementary colour #7D6759 creates maximum visual tension when paired with #596F7D. For more harmonious color combinations, use the analogous colours #597D79 and #595D7D, which sit 30 degrees on either side of the hue wheel. To build a complete design system, start with the monochromatic scale above for consistent shade variations, then add one complementary or triadic accent for interactive elements.
How to Explore Color #596F7D
- Enter your color value in HEX format.
- The tool converts it to RGB, HSL, CMYK format in real time.
- Copy the converted value to your clipboard.
What is HEX to RGB, HSL, CMYK color conversion
Converting from HEX to RGB, HSL, CMYK translates a color value between two different color models. Different color models are used in web design (HEX, RGB), print (CMYK), and color theory (HSL, HSV).
Related Tools & Colors
Frequently Asked Questions
- What color / colour is #596F7D?
- #596F7D is Color #596F7D, a blue color (colour) with RGB(89, 111, 125), HSL(203, 17%, 42%), and CMYK(29%, 11%, 0%, 51%). Its perceived brightness is 106/255.
- Is #596F7D accessible for text?
- Against white, #596F7D has a contrast ratio of 5.26:1 (passes AA for normal text). Against black, it has 3.99:1 (fails AA). Use the contrast checker tool for custom background pairings.
- What colours pair well with #596F7D?
- The complementary colour is #7D6759 (hue 23). For subtle color combinations, use analogous colours #597D79 and #595D7D. The triadic palette adds #7D596F and #6F7D59 for vibrant variety.
- How do I use #596F7D in CSS?
- Use any format: color: #596f7d; or rgb(89, 111, 125); or hsl(203, 17%, 42%). For CSS custom properties: --color-primary: 203 17% 42%; then use it as hsl(var(--color-primary)).
- Is this color / colour explorer free?
- Yes, completely free with no signup required. All colour calculations run in your browser. You can explore any valid hex color code, not just the pre-generated palette.