Exploring the Color #3B4849

#3B4849 sits at 184° on the color wheel, placing it in the cyan family of the cool half of the spectrum. With 11% saturation and 26% lightness, it reads as a heavily muted, shadowed tone — a quiet, restrained presence that recedes rather than competes. Its RGB mix of 59, 72, 73 produces a 9.51:1 contrast ratio against white, which clears WCAG AAA for body text in that pairing.

In RGB space #3B4849 is a distant relative of CSS dim gray — about 65 units away from #696969. Designers reach for cyan hues at this saturation when the brief calls for restraint and atmosphere, 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