Exploring the Color #523D74

#523D74 sits at 263° on the color wheel, placing it in the violet family of the cool half of the spectrum. With 31% saturation and 35% 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 82, 61, 116 produces a 9.22:1 contrast ratio against white, which clears WCAG AAA for body text in that pairing.

In RGB space #523D74 is a clear variant of CSS dim gray — about 51 units away from #696969. Designers reach for violet 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