Color #88B1CE Color / Colour Code #88B1CE
This page shows the hex color code for color #88b1ce (#88B1CE). The colour is a blue tone with 42% saturation and 67% lightness. Explore its conversions, colour palettes, gradients, accessibility data, and CSS code below.
Color Conversions
Accessibility Contrast
WCAG contrast ratios for #88B1CE against common backgrounds.
Complementary Colors
#88B1CE paired with its color wheel opposite for maximum contrast.
Analogous Colors
Hues at 175, 205, and 235 degrees for harmonious combinations.
Triadic Palette
Three colors at 205, 325, and 85 degrees.
Color Palettes Using #88B1CE
Five shades at lightness levels 15% through 85% while keeping hue at 205 and saturation at 42%. Use the darkest shade for text and the lightest for backgrounds to build a cohesive single-hue design system.
Adjacent hues from 205 to 250 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 205 with its complement at 25 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 #88B1CE
Lightness variations at hue 205 and 42% saturation.
CSS Gradients with #88B1CE
Design Use Cases for #88B1CE
Balanced UI Color
At 42% saturation, #88B1CE strikes a balance between vibrancy and restraint. This makes it versatile for primary UI elements like navigation bars, card headers, and form accents. It draws attention without overwhelming adjacent content.
Soft Accent & Highlight
With 67% lightness, #88B1CE has a softer, more approachable quality. It works well for hover states, subtle highlights, progress indicators, and secondary UI elements. This lightness range is particularly effective for tag backgrounds and status indicators.
Trust & Professional Identity
#88B1CE sits in the blue range (hue 205). 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 #88B1CE (hue 205) to its complement at hue 25. For a subtler effect, try pairing with an analogous color at hue 235. Use CSS: background: linear-gradient(135deg, #88b1ce, #cea588);
CSS Code for #88B1CE
Similar Colors
Colors visually similar to #88B1CE based on RGB, lightness, and hue variations.
Use This Color in Design Tools
Apply #88B1CE across image editing and color design tools.
About Color #88B1CE (#88B1CE)
#88B1CE is a blue color (colour) with RGB channel values of 136 red, 177 green, and 206 blue. The blue channel is dominant with a relatively balanced channel distribution. In HSL terms, the hue sits at 205 degrees with 42% saturation and 67% lightness, placing it in the cool range of the colour spectrum.
The perceived brightness of #88B1CE is 168/255 using the ITU-R BT.601 luma formula (0.299R + 0.587G + 0.114B). This is a medium-brightness color that can work with either dark or light text depending on font weight and size. For print production, the CMYK equivalent is 34% cyan, 14% magenta, 0% yellow, and 19% key (black).
The WCAG contrast ratio of #88B1CE against white is 2.28:1 and against black is 9.23:1. This does not meet AA requirements on white. Use it on dark backgrounds where it achieves 9.23:1, or use it exclusively for decorative purposes.
The complementary colour #CEA588 creates maximum visual tension when paired with #88B1CE. For more harmonious color combinations, use the analogous colours #88CEC8 and #888DCE, 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 #88B1CE
- 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 #88B1CE?
- #88B1CE is Color #88B1CE, a blue color (colour) with RGB(136, 177, 206), HSL(205, 42%, 67%), and CMYK(34%, 14%, 0%, 19%). Its perceived brightness is 168/255.
- Is #88B1CE accessible for text?
- Against white, #88B1CE has a contrast ratio of 2.28:1 (fails AA for normal text). Against black, it has 9.23:1 (passes AA). Use the contrast checker tool for custom background pairings.
- What colours pair well with #88B1CE?
- The complementary colour is #CEA588 (hue 25). For subtle color combinations, use analogous colours #88CEC8 and #888DCE. The triadic palette adds #CE88B1 and #B1CE88 for vibrant variety.
- How do I use #88B1CE in CSS?
- Use any format: color: #88b1ce; or rgb(136, 177, 206); or hsl(205, 42%, 67%). For CSS custom properties: --color-primary: 205 42% 67%; 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.