Color #8989AE Color / Colour Code #8989AE
This page shows the hex color code for color #8989ae (#8989AE). The colour is a blue tone with 19% saturation and 61% lightness. Explore its conversions, colour palettes, gradients, accessibility data, and CSS code below.
Color Conversions
Accessibility Contrast
WCAG contrast ratios for #8989AE against common backgrounds.
Complementary Colors
#8989AE paired with its color wheel opposite for maximum contrast.
Analogous Colors
Hues at 210, 240, and 270 degrees for harmonious combinations.
Triadic Palette
Three colors at 240, 0, and 120 degrees.
Color Palettes Using #8989AE
Five shades at lightness levels 15% through 85% while keeping hue at 240 and saturation at 19%. Use the darkest shade for text and the lightest for backgrounds to build a cohesive single-hue design system.
Adjacent hues from 240 to 285 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 240 with its complement at 60 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 #8989AE
Lightness variations at hue 240 and 19% saturation.
CSS Gradients with #8989AE
Design Use Cases for #8989AE
Muted Accent Color
With 19% saturation, #8989AE 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.
Soft Accent & Highlight
With 61% lightness, #8989AE 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
#8989AE sits in the blue range (hue 240). 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 #8989AE (hue 240) to its complement at hue 60. For a subtler effect, try pairing with an analogous color at hue 270. Use CSS: background: linear-gradient(135deg, #8989ae, #aeae89);
CSS Code for #8989AE
Similar Colors
Colors visually similar to #8989AE based on RGB, lightness, and hue variations.
Use This Color in Design Tools
Apply #8989AE across image editing and color design tools.
About Color #8989AE (#8989AE)
#8989AE is a blue color (colour) with RGB channel values of 137 red, 137 green, and 174 blue. The blue channel is dominant with a relatively balanced channel distribution. In HSL terms, the hue sits at 240 degrees with 19% saturation and 61% lightness, placing it in the cool range of the colour spectrum.
The perceived brightness of #8989AE is 141/255 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 21% cyan, 21% magenta, 0% yellow, and 32% key (black).
The WCAG contrast ratio of #8989AE against white is 3.36:1 and against black is 6.25:1. This only passes AA for large text (18pt+) on white. For normal body text on white, darken the color or use it on a dark background where it achieves 6.25:1.
The complementary colour #AEAE89 creates maximum visual tension when paired with #8989AE. For more harmonious color combinations, use the analogous colours #899CAE and #9C89AE, 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 #8989AE
- 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 #8989AE?
- #8989AE is Color #8989AE, a blue color (colour) with RGB(137, 137, 174), HSL(240, 19%, 61%), and CMYK(21%, 21%, 0%, 32%). Its perceived brightness is 141/255.
- Is #8989AE accessible for text?
- Against white, #8989AE has a contrast ratio of 3.36:1 (fails AA for normal text). Against black, it has 6.25:1 (passes AA). It passes AA for large text (18pt+) on white. Use the contrast checker tool for custom background pairings.
- What colours pair well with #8989AE?
- The complementary colour is #AEAE89 (hue 60). For subtle color combinations, use analogous colours #899CAE and #9C89AE. The triadic palette adds #AE8989 and #89AE89 for vibrant variety.
- How do I use #8989AE in CSS?
- Use any format: color: #8989ae; or rgb(137, 137, 174); or hsl(240, 19%, 61%). For CSS custom properties: --color-primary: 240 19% 61%; 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.