Exploring the Color #496C66

#496C66 sits at 170° on the color wheel, placing it in the cyan family of the cool half of the spectrum. With 19% saturation and 35% lightness, it reads as a heavily muted, shadowed tone — a balanced mid-energy presence that sits comfortably alongside other UI tones. Its RGB mix of 73, 108, 102 produces a 5.80:1 contrast ratio against white, which clears WCAG AA for body text in that pairing.

In RGB space #496C66 is a clear variant of CSS dim gray — about 32 units away from #696969. Designers reach for cyan 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