Exploring the Color #8C97D1

#8C97D1 sits at 230° on the color wheel, placing it in the blue family of the cool half of the spectrum. With 43% saturation and 68% 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 140, 151, 209 produces a 7.46:1 contrast ratio against black, which clears WCAG AAA for body text in that pairing.

In RGB space #8C97D1 is a distant relative of CSS sky blue — about 61 units away from #87CEEB. Designers reach for blue 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