#9DC2BD is a muted, temperate cyan. On the Color Lab it reads clean and engineered, restrained and easy to live with. It holds up as a large surface and is too pale to lead as a primary accent.
Not just a swatch — here's how #9DC2BD works with other colors. Named schemes with #9DC2BD in its natural role, and a note on why the supporting colors balance it.
Ash Gray keeps this Nordic scheme quiet — cool greys and a soft white around it, a muted-blue support and a charcoal anchor.
Ash Gray 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.
Ash Gray opens this coastal palette with sea-glass and warm sand alongside it, grounded by driftwood grey and a deep-navy anchor.
Ash Gray 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 Ash Gray carrying the quiet middle.
Ash Gray is the vivid signal in this product UI — on a near-black surface with cool white, a slate grey and a lighter tint of Ash Gray.
How #9DC2BD 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 #9DC2BD at work across the surfaces designers actually ship.
:root {
--color-base: #9DC2BD;
--color-base-rgb: 157 194 189;
--color-base-oklch: oklch(78.6% 0.040 186.3);
--color-50: #F5F9F9;
--color-100: #E6F0EE;
--color-200: #CDE0DD;
--color-300: #A9C6C2;
--color-400: #86ACA7;
--color-500: #668F89;
--color-600: #536F6B;
--color-700: #3E514E;
--color-800: #2B3635;
--color-900: #1B2221;
--color-on-base: #141310;
}
// tailwind.config.js
colors: {
ash-gray: {
50: '#F5F9F9',
100: '#E6F0EE',
200: '#CDE0DD',
300: '#A9C6C2',
400: '#86ACA7',
500: '#668F89',
600: '#536F6B',
700: '#3E514E',
800: '#2B3635',
900: '#1B2221',
},
}
$base: #9DC2BD; $base-ink: #141310; $base-50: #F5F9F9; $base-100: #E6F0EE; $base-200: #CDE0DD; $base-300: #A9C6C2; $base-400: #86ACA7; $base-500: #668F89; $base-600: #536F6B; $base-700: #3E514E; $base-800: #2B3635; $base-900: #1B2221; $base-hover: #72A7A0; $base-subtle: #E3EBEA;
{
"color": {
"base": {
"value": "#9DC2BD",
"type": "color"
},
"onBase": {
"value": "#141310",
"type": "color"
},
"scale": {
"50": {
"value": "#F5F9F9",
"type": "color"
},
"100": {
"value": "#E6F0EE",
"type": "color"
},
"200": {
"value": "#CDE0DD",
"type": "color"
},
"300": {
"value": "#A9C6C2",
"type": "color"
},
"400": {
"value": "#86ACA7",
"type": "color"
},
"500": {
"value": "#668F89",
"type": "color"
},
"600": {
"value": "#536F6B",
"type": "color"
},
"700": {
"value": "#3E514E",
"type": "color"
},
"800": {
"value": "#2B3635",
"type": "color"
},
"900": {
"value": "#1B2221",
"type": "color"
}
}
}
}