Exploring the Color #166E69

#166E69 sits at 177° on the color wheel, placing it in the cyan family of the cool half of the spectrum. With 67% saturation and 26% lightness, it reads as a richly saturated, shadowed tone — a weighted, dramatic presence with deep undertones. Its RGB mix of 22, 110, 105 produces a 6.05:1 contrast ratio against white, which clears WCAG AA for body text in that pairing.

In RGB space #166E69 is a clear variant of CSS teal — about 37 units away from #008080. Designers reach for cyan 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