Exploring the Color #42A6AB

#42A6AB sits at 183° on the color wheel, placing it in the cyan family of the cool half of the spectrum. With 44% saturation and 46% lightness, it reads as a moderately saturated, balanced tone — a balanced mid-energy presence that sits comfortably alongside other UI tones. Its RGB mix of 66, 166, 171 produces a 7.27:1 contrast ratio against black, which clears WCAG AAA for body text in that pairing.

In RGB space #42A6AB is a clear variant of CSS steel blue — about 37 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