Exploring the Color #518C81

#518C81 sits at 169° on the color wheel, placing it in the cyan family of the cool half of the spectrum. With 27% saturation and 43% 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 81, 140, 129 produces a 5.42:1 contrast ratio against black, which clears WCAG AA for body text in that pairing.

In RGB space #518C81 is a clear variant of CSS #808080 — about 49 units away from #808080. 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