Exploring the Color #56A5A1

#56A5A1 sits at 177° on the color wheel, placing it in the cyan family of the cool half of the spectrum. With 31% saturation and 49% lightness, it reads as a softly muted, balanced tone — a balanced mid-energy presence that sits comfortably alongside other UI tones. Its RGB mix of 86, 165, 161 produces a 7.29:1 contrast ratio against black, which clears WCAG AAA for body text in that pairing.

In RGB space #56A5A1 is a clear variant of CSS steel blue — about 43 units away from #4682B4. Designers reach for cyan 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

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