Exploring the Color #8C91AE

#8C91AE sits at 231° on the color wheel, placing it in the blue family of the cool half of the spectrum. With 17% saturation and 62% lightness, it reads as a heavily muted, light tone — a balanced mid-energy presence that sits comfortably alongside other UI tones. Its RGB mix of 140, 145, 174 produces a 6.78:1 contrast ratio against black, which clears WCAG AA for body text in that pairing.

In RGB space #8C91AE is a clear variant of CSS gray — about 50 units away from #808080. Designers reach for blue 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