Exploring the Color #8BCAD9

#8BCAD9 sits at 192° on the color wheel, placing it in the cyan family of the cool half of the spectrum. With 51% saturation and 70% lightness, it reads as a moderately saturated, light tone — a balanced mid-energy presence that sits comfortably alongside other UI tones. Its RGB mix of 139, 202, 217 produces a 11.55:1 contrast ratio against black, which clears WCAG AAA for body text in that pairing.

In RGB space #8BCAD9 is a close cousin of CSS sky blue — about 19 units away from #87CEEB. 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

Lightening Shades