We're live on Product Hunt!Support us
ColorArchive

A curated color library with 5,000+ algorithmically generated colors. Browse, search, save favorites, and export palette tokens — no account required.

CollectionsFamiliesBrandsRegionsJournalNotesGuidesFree ResourcesConvertColorblindAboutSupportUpdates
Ready for static export
Privacy·Terms·Refunds·Cookies·Commerce Disclosure
colorarchive.org · © 2026 ColorArchive
Skip to content
ColorArchive
ProLog in
ArchiveAll ColorsCollections
Cyan Ink Faint
Color detail

Cyan Ink Faint

Teal · Hue 175
Hex
#202727
RGB
rgb(32, 39, 39)
HSL
hsl(175, 10%, 14%)
CMYK
cmyk(18%, 0%, 0%, 85%)
Metrics
S 10% · L 14%
Contrast (WCAG)
on white
15.2:1AA
on black
1.4:1Fail
Save to journalSign in to saveStart palette from thisRecent trail

About this color

Cyan Ink Faint (#202727) belongs to the teal family — hue 175°, 10% saturation, 14% lightness. Copy the hex, RGB, or HSL value above, or paste the CSS custom property below into your stylesheet to reference this color directly.

CSS
:root {
  --colorarchive-cyan-ink-faint: #202727;
  --colorarchive-cyan-ink-faint-hsl: hsl(175, 10%, 14%);
  --colorarchive-cyan-ink-faint-rgb: rgb(32, 39, 39);
}

AI Color Names

Let AI suggest alternative poetic names for this color in English and Chinese.

Design Context

DeepProfessionalStable
Common in

Corporate Software · Consulting · Marine

Pairs well with

White for sharp contrast, light coral for warmth, silver for tech

Design tip

Use as a dark theme primary or sidebar background. Deep teal is less harsh than pure black while maintaining professionalism.

Cultural context ▶

Deep teal evokes deep ocean waters — stability, depth, and hidden knowledge. Common in corporate and maritime contexts.

Color Origins

Teal family

The hue of patina, lagoons, and modern surgery.

Heritage

Teal — the blue-green range — is named after the Eurasian teal duck, whose wing patches sit at exactly this hue. Egyptian blue and Egyptian green, both made from copper-calcium silicate around 2,500 BCE, sit in this region. The patina of weathered copper (the Statue of Liberty's color) is teal because copper carbonate forms there; Bacon's verdigris is the same chemistry. Phthalo turquoise and cobalt teal are 20th-century pigments.

Across cultures

In Persian and Central Asian Islamic architecture, teal-turquoise tile work is iconic — the domes of Samarkand and Isfahan are unmistakable. In ancient Egypt, faience (a kind of glazed ceramic in this color) was associated with the Nile, fertility, and rebirth. In the American Southwest, teal-turquoise is so deeply associated with Navajo and Pueblo silverwork that the color reads 'desert' there.

In the wild

Hospital scrubs are teal because it's the perceptual complement of red blood — staring at red and then looking away produces a green-teal afterimage, and matching the scrubs to that afterimage reduces eye fatigue. Tiffany's blue is a calibrated teal, trademarked as PMS 1837 (their founding year). Most Pixar films grade their shadows toward teal because warm skin against cool shadow is the most legible cinematographic combination. The Apple Watch SE, the Surface Pro, and the new Macs all use teal as a 'calming-but-modern' accent.

How it reads

Teal sits at one of the visually quietest points of the spectrum — it neither advances (like red) nor recedes (like blue). It reads as competent, calm, and slightly clinical; it's the dominant accent color in healthcare and trust-led fintech for that reason. At low saturation it becomes a duck-egg or seafoam, soft and Scandinavian. At high saturation it becomes electric or tropical. Teal pairs particularly well with warm earth tones (terracotta, clay, beige).

This particular tone

A dim, atmospheric reading — closer to a colored shadow than a stated hue. Excellent as a near-black on dark UI or as a moody background.

Lightness band: At this depth the hue starts behaving like a neutral — it can substitute for black in many contexts while still carrying a faint chromatic temperature. It pairs especially well with off-whites and warm metallics.

Saturation band: The low saturation pulls this color toward earthen, vintage, or editorial palettes. It reads as confident and grown-up rather than playful, and it tolerates being used in large blocks without becoming visually noisy.

Brands using a similar color

Within the public brand-guidelines reference catalog, these are the closest matches to #202727.

  • Meituan 美团neutral
    Slate Black · #222222
    →
  • Supabaseneutral
    Surface · #2A2A2A
    →
  • Webflowneutral
    Charcoal · #1D1F26
    →

Cultures using a similar color

From the cultural-palette catalog, these regions feature a color close to #202727.

  • Korea (Obangsaek)Obangsaek Black (흑 / heuk)
    #1F1F1F · North — water element, ink and lacquer
    →
  • China (Traditional)Ink Wash Black (墨)
    #1C1C1C · Pine-soot ink stick (mò)
    →
  • IcelandBasalt Black
    #1A1B1F · Reynisfjara basalt columns
    →

Tonal strip

All lightness levels at this hue and saturation. Click any to navigate.

Palette moves

Instead of stopping at one swatch, use nearby, opposite, and tonal neighbors to branch into a broader palette.

Lighter companion
Cyan Nocturne Faint
#2E3837 · hsl(175, 10%, 20%)
Complementary counterpoint
Crimson Ink Faint
#272020 · hsl(0, 10%, 14%)
Analogous lead
Azure Ink Faint
#202527 · hsl(200, 10%, 14%)
Analogous echo
Jade Ink Faint
#202724 · hsl(150, 10%, 14%)
Triadic +120°
Magenta Ink Faint
#262027 · hsl(290, 10%, 14%)
Triadic +240°
Canary Ink Faint
#272720 · hsl(55, 10%, 14%)
Split-comp +150°
Rose Ink Faint
#272025 · hsl(320, 10%, 14%)
Split-comp +210°
Tangerine Ink Faint
#272320 · hsl(25, 10%, 14%)
Export preview
Base: Cyan Ink Faint #202727
Lighter companion: Cyan Nocturne Faint #2E3837
Complementary counterpoint: Crimson Ink Faint #272020
Analogous lead: Azure Ink Faint #202527
Analogous echo: Jade Ink Faint #202724
Triadic +120°: Magenta Ink Faint #262027
Triadic +240°: Canary Ink Faint #272720
Split-comp +150°: Rose Ink Faint #272025
Split-comp +210°: Tangerine Ink Faint #272320

Compare

See how Cyan Ink Faint compares side by side with related colors.

vsCyan Nocturne FaintvsCrimson Ink FaintvsAzure Ink FaintvsJade Ink FaintvsMagenta Ink FaintvsCanary Ink Faint

Nearest neighbors

The closest archive matches by hue, saturation, and lightness.

Search by hex
Nearby match
Cyan Ink Muted
#1D2A29 · hsl(175, 18%, 14%)
Nearby match
Cyan Nocturne Faint
#2E3837 · hsl(175, 10%, 20%)
Nearby match
Lagoon Ink Faint
#202726 · hsl(170, 10%, 14%)
Nearby match
Aqua Ink Faint
#202727 · hsl(180, 10%, 14%)
Nearby match
Cyan Ink Dust
#1A2D2B · hsl(175, 26%, 14%)
Nearby match
Cyan Nocturne Muted
#2A3C3B · hsl(175, 18%, 20%)

Accessible pairings

Archive colors that meet WCAG contrast standards when paired with this color. Use as text-on-background or background-on-text.

Contrast checker
AAA14.5:1
Crimson Veil Faint
#FAF9F9
AAA14.5:1
Crimson Veil Muted
#FBF9F9
AAA14.5:1
Crimson Veil Dust
#FBF9F9
AAA14.4:1
Crimson Veil Soft
#FCF8F8
AAA14.4:1
Crimson Veil Clear
#FDF7F7
AAA14.3:1
Crimson Veil Vivid
#FEF6F6

Color Vision Simulation

How this color appears with different color vision deficiencies.

Full simulator
Deuteranopia
#232227
Protanopia
#232327
Tritanopia
#202727
Ready to build

Turn these colors into design tokens

ColorArchive Pro includes CSS variables, Figma tokens, Tailwind config, and Procreate swatches — ready to drop into any project.

Upgrade to ProFree downloadView collections

Related colors

More from Teal

Search
Sage Gray Ink#222524 · hsl(150, 5%, 14%)Sage Gray Nocturne#303633 · hsl(150, 5%, 20%)Sage Gray Shadow#444B47 · hsl(150, 5%, 28%)Sage Gray Dusk#525B57 · hsl(150, 5%, 34%)Sage Gray Velvet#66706B · hsl(150, 5%, 42%)Sage Gray Core#74817A · hsl(150, 5%, 48%)Sage Gray Radiant#84908A · hsl(150, 5%, 54%)Sage Gray Tone#949E99 · hsl(150, 5%, 60%)