#081816 is a muted, temperate cyan. On the Color Lab it reads clean and engineered, quietly premium. It holds up as a large surface and is too dark to lead as a primary accent.
Not just a swatch — here's how #081816 works with other colors. Named schemes with #081816 in its natural role, and a note on why the supporting colors balance it.
Graphite plays the worn-leather lead, deepened by saddle brown and an oxblood anchor, softened by aged cream and cooled by a muted forest green.
Graphite sets a calm, sun-bleached base here, wrapped in bone and paper off-whites and a soft greige, with a single ink accent for wabi-sabi restraint.
Graphite carries the depth in this luxury scheme, offset by a brass accent and near-black and held together by a deep neutral and an off-white surface.
Graphite adds the colour to this moody editorial scheme — charcoal and a mid-grey around it, a bone highlight, and a muted jewel accent drawn from Graphite.
Graphite is the single accent in this high-contrast editorial system — set on near-white paper against near-black ink, with a warm grey and a desaturated tint of Graphite carrying the quiet middle.
How #081816 actually behaves in design work — read from its OKLCH lightness, chroma and hue, not just its raw numbers. Ten signals to help you decide where this color earns its place.
Not a swatch to memorise — a color to build with. Here is #081816 at work across the surfaces designers actually ship.
:root {
--color-base: #081816;
--color-base-rgb: 8 24 22;
--color-base-oklch: oklch(19.4% 0.022 185.2);
--color-50: #F3FCFB;
--color-100: #E0F5F3;
--color-200: #C2EBE6;
--color-300: #97D8D0;
--color-400: #70C2B9;
--color-500: #4EA69C;
--color-600: #428079;
--color-700: #335C57;
--color-800: #243C3A;
--color-900: #182524;
--color-on-base: #FFFFFF;
}
// tailwind.config.js
colors: {
graphite: {
50: '#F3FCFB',
100: '#E0F5F3',
200: '#C2EBE6',
300: '#97D8D0',
400: '#70C2B9',
500: '#4EA69C',
600: '#428079',
700: '#335C57',
800: '#243C3A',
900: '#182524',
},
}
$base: #081816; $base-ink: #FFFFFF; $base-50: #F3FCFB; $base-100: #E0F5F3; $base-200: #C2EBE6; $base-300: #97D8D0; $base-400: #70C2B9; $base-500: #4EA69C; $base-600: #428079; $base-700: #335C57; $base-800: #243C3A; $base-900: #182524; $base-hover: #061211; $base-subtle: #9CD2CC;
{
"color": {
"base": {
"value": "#081816",
"type": "color"
},
"onBase": {
"value": "#FFFFFF",
"type": "color"
},
"scale": {
"50": {
"value": "#F3FCFB",
"type": "color"
},
"100": {
"value": "#E0F5F3",
"type": "color"
},
"200": {
"value": "#C2EBE6",
"type": "color"
},
"300": {
"value": "#97D8D0",
"type": "color"
},
"400": {
"value": "#70C2B9",
"type": "color"
},
"500": {
"value": "#4EA69C",
"type": "color"
},
"600": {
"value": "#428079",
"type": "color"
},
"700": {
"value": "#335C57",
"type": "color"
},
"800": {
"value": "#243C3A",
"type": "color"
},
"900": {
"value": "#182524",
"type": "color"
}
}
}
}