Exploring the Color #81B9B1

#81B9B1 sits at 171° on the color wheel, placing it in the cyan family of the cool half of the spectrum. With 29% saturation and 62% lightness, it reads as a softly muted, light tone — a balanced mid-energy presence that sits comfortably alongside other UI tones. Its RGB mix of 129, 185, 177 produces a 9.51:1 contrast ratio against black, which clears WCAG AAA for body text in that pairing.

In RGB space #81B9B1 is a distant relative of CSS sky blue — about 62 units away from #87CEEB. 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