Exploring the Color #480C14

#480C14 sits at 352° on the color wheel, placing it in the red family of the warm half of the spectrum. With 71% saturation and 16% lightness, it reads as a richly saturated, deep tone — a weighted, dramatic presence with deep undertones. Its RGB mix of 72, 12, 20 produces a 15.69:1 contrast ratio against white, which clears WCAG AAA for body text in that pairing.

In RGB space #480C14 is a distant relative of CSS maroon — about 61 units away from #800000. Designers reach for red hues at this saturation when the brief calls for bold, immediate signal, and at this lightness when they want weight, depth, and grounded contrast. On screen the warm cast tends to pair best with cool neutrals around 210°-230° to balance temperature.

Darkening Shades

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