Exploring the Color #3C404F

#3C404F sits at 227° on the color wheel, placing it in the blue family of the cool half of the spectrum. With 14% saturation and 27% lightness, it reads as a heavily muted, shadowed tone — a quiet, restrained presence that recedes rather than competes. Its RGB mix of 60, 64, 79 produces a 10.30:1 contrast ratio against white, which clears WCAG AAA for body text in that pairing.

In RGB space #3C404F is a distant relative of CSS dim gray — about 66 units away from #696969. Designers reach for blue 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