Exploring the Color #408F8D

#408F8D sits at 178° on the color wheel, placing it in the cyan family of the cool half of the spectrum. With 38% saturation and 41% lightness, it reads as a softly muted, shadowed tone — a balanced mid-energy presence that sits comfortably alongside other UI tones. Its RGB mix of 64, 143, 141 produces a 5.53:1 contrast ratio against black, which clears WCAG AA for body text in that pairing.

In RGB space #408F8D is a clear variant of CSS steel blue — about 42 units away from #4682B4. 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 a present, comfortable mid-canvas voice. On screen the cool cast tends to pair best with warm neutrals in the 25°-45° range to add life.

Darkening Shades

Lightening Shades