Exploring the Color #494960

#494960 sits at 240° on the color wheel, placing it in the blue family of the cool half of the spectrum. With 14% saturation and 33% lightness, it reads as a heavily muted, shadowed tone — a quiet, restrained presence that recedes rather than competes. Its RGB mix of 73, 73, 96 produces a 8.73:1 contrast ratio against white, which clears WCAG AAA for body text in that pairing.

In RGB space #494960 is a clear variant of CSS dim gray — about 46 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 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