Exploring the Color #856691

#856691 sits at 283° on the color wheel, placing it in the violet family of the cool half of the spectrum. With 17% saturation and 48% lightness, it reads as a heavily muted, balanced tone — a balanced mid-energy presence that sits comfortably alongside other UI tones. Its RGB mix of 133, 102, 145 produces a 4.88:1 contrast ratio against white, which clears WCAG AA for body text in that pairing.

In RGB space #856691 is a clear variant of CSS gray — about 31 units away from #808080. Designers reach for violet 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