Exploring the Color #9C9BD1

#9C9BD1 sits at 241° on the color wheel, placing it in the blue family of the cool half of the spectrum. With 37% saturation and 71% 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 156, 155, 209 produces a 8.02:1 contrast ratio against black, which clears WCAG AAA for body text in that pairing.

In RGB space #9C9BD1 is a clear variant of CSS silver — about 54 units away from #C0C0C0. 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 lift, air, and gentle emphasis. On screen the cool cast tends to pair best with warm neutrals in the 25°-45° range to add life.

Darkening Shades

Lightening Shades