Exploring the Color #8CB9B4

#8CB9B4 sits at 173° on the color wheel, placing it in the cyan family of the cool half of the spectrum. With 24% saturation and 64% 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 140, 185, 180 produces a 9.71:1 contrast ratio against black, which clears WCAG AAA for body text in that pairing.

In RGB space #8CB9B4 is a clear variant of CSS silver — about 54 units away from #C0C0C0. 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