Exploring the Color #16173A

#16173A sits at 238° on the color wheel, placing it in the blue family of the cool half of the spectrum. With 45% saturation and 16% lightness, it reads as a moderately saturated, deep tone — a balanced mid-energy presence that sits comfortably alongside other UI tones. Its RGB mix of 22, 23, 58 produces a 17.24:1 contrast ratio against white, which clears WCAG AAA for body text in that pairing.

In RGB space #16173A is a distant relative of CSS black — about 66 units away from #000000. Designers reach for blue hues at this saturation when the brief calls for a conversational, mid-energy register, and at this lightness when they want weight, depth, and grounded contrast. On screen the cool cast tends to pair best with warm neutrals in the 25°-45° range to add life.

Darkening Shades

Lightening Shades