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Indigo Bloom Faint
Color detail

Indigo Bloom Faint

Blue · Hue 230
Hex
#BCBEC8
RGB
rgb(188, 190, 200)
HSL
hsl(230, 10%, 76%)
CMYK
cmyk(6%, 5%, 0%, 22%)
Metrics
S 10% · L 76%
Contrast (WCAG)
on white
1.9:1Fail
on black
11.3:1AA
Save to journalSign in to saveStart palette from thisRecent trail

About this color

Indigo Bloom Faint (#BCBEC8) belongs to the blue family — hue 230°, 10% saturation, 76% 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-indigo-bloom-faint: #BCBEC8;
  --colorarchive-indigo-bloom-faint-hsl: hsl(230, 10%, 76%);
  --colorarchive-indigo-bloom-faint-rgb: rgb(188, 190, 200);
}

AI Color Names

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

Design Context

SereneTrustworthyClean
Common in

Social Media · Cloud Storage · Baby Products

Pairs well with

Light gray for tech minimalism, peach for friendly warmth

Design tip

The default choice for tech and social platforms for good reason. Light blue backgrounds reduce anxiety and increase trust.

Cultural context ▶

Light blue represents peace, sky, and openness. It's the most universally liked color, making it safe for global brands.

Color Origins

Blue family

The most-loved color on the planet, and the most overused.

Heritage

Blue is the rarest pigment in the natural world — and so, historically, the most expensive. Ultramarine, ground from lapis lazuli mined only in Afghanistan, was worth more than gold in Renaissance Europe; Vermeer's bills were enormous because of how much he used. Egyptian blue (the first synthetic pigment, ~3000 BCE) was lost for centuries and rediscovered in the 19th. Prussian blue (1704) democratized blue overnight; Yves Klein's IKB (1960) re-aristocratized it.

Across cultures

In ancient Egypt blue was the color of the Nile and the heavens — sacred, protective. In China blue-and-white porcelain (qinghua) defined export ceramics for 600 years. In Mediterranean traditions blue wards off the evil eye. In post-WWII America, blue became the corporate default ('IBM blue'); in Japan, indigo (ai) is the centuries-old workwear dye that became the ground tone of an entire textile tradition. Across the world blue is consistently rated the most-liked color — sometimes by 35% margins.

In the wild

Facebook is blue because Mark Zuckerberg is red-green colorblind. IBM's blue dates to 1947. Levi's blue is the natural color of indigo on cotton. Twitter Blue (#1DA1F2) defined social-media blue for a decade before X scrapped it. Pixar's Up famously runs on a single complementary palette built on blue. The blue checkmark, the blue link, the blue 'send' button — blue has become the default color of digital trust, to the point of being a UX cliché.

How it reads

Blue recedes — physically, the eye focuses blue light slightly behind the retina, which makes blue elements feel deep or distant. It reads as trustworthy, calm, corporate, and (at the cool end) cold. Light blues read airy and clinical; mid blues are the default for tech and finance; deep blues read as luxurious or naval. The omnipresence of blue in software is real: most enterprise UIs reach for it because it offends the fewest stakeholders, which is also the reason it can feel like the absence of a real choice.

This particular tone

A pale, gentle tone — pastel territory, where the hue acts more like a tinted neutral than a stated color.

Lightness band: At this lightness the hue almost recedes into the surface around it — useful for backgrounds, hover states, and any surface where the color should suggest a mood without competing with content.

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 #BCBEC8.

  • Starbucksneutral
    Warm Neutral · #D4E9E2
    →
  • Glossierprimary
    Glossier Pink · #F8D6CD
    →
  • Aesopneutral
    Cream Paper · #EFE4D2
    →

Cultures using a similar color

From the cultural-palette catalog, these regions feature a color close to #BCBEC8.

  • ScandinaviaIittala Blue
    #A6CEDB · Aalto vase glassware (1936-)
    →
  • China (Traditional)Celadon (青瓷)
    #9CB48F · Song Dynasty Longquan kilns
    →
  • IcelandMidnight Sun Pink
    #F2AEB5 · Horizon light, June
    →

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
Indigo Pearl Faint
#D2D3DA · hsl(230, 10%, 84%)
Darker companion
Indigo Silk Faint
#A5A8B6 · hsl(230, 10%, 68%)
Complementary counterpoint
Amber Bloom Faint
#C8C6BC · hsl(50, 10%, 76%)
Analogous lead
Violet Bloom Faint
#BEBCC8 · hsl(250, 10%, 76%)
Analogous echo
Steel Bloom Faint
#BCC3C8 · hsl(205, 10%, 76%)
Triadic +120°
Merlot Bloom Faint
#C8BCBE · hsl(350, 10%, 76%)
Triadic +240°
Leaf Bloom Faint
#BEC8BC · hsl(110, 10%, 76%)
Split-comp +150°
Ember Bloom Faint
#C8C0BC · hsl(20, 10%, 76%)
Split-comp +210°
Olive Bloom Faint
#C4C8BC · hsl(80, 10%, 76%)
Export preview
Base: Indigo Bloom Faint #BCBEC8
Lighter companion: Indigo Pearl Faint #D2D3DA
Darker companion: Indigo Silk Faint #A5A8B6
Complementary counterpoint: Amber Bloom Faint #C8C6BC
Analogous lead: Violet Bloom Faint #BEBCC8
Analogous echo: Steel Bloom Faint #BCC3C8
Triadic +120°: Merlot Bloom Faint #C8BCBE
Triadic +240°: Leaf Bloom Faint #BEC8BC
Split-comp +150°: Ember Bloom Faint #C8C0BC
Split-comp +210°: Olive Bloom Faint #C4C8BC

Compare

See how Indigo Bloom Faint compares side by side with related colors.

vsIndigo Pearl FaintvsIndigo Silk FaintvsAmber Bloom FaintvsViolet Bloom FaintvsSteel Bloom FaintvsMerlot Bloom Faint

Nearest neighbors

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

Search by hex
Nearby match
Indigo Bloom Muted
#B7BACD · hsl(230, 18%, 76%)
Nearby match
Indigo Silk Faint
#A5A8B6 · hsl(230, 10%, 68%)
Nearby match
Indigo Pearl Faint
#D2D3DA · hsl(230, 10%, 84%)
Nearby match
Indigo Bloom Dust
#B2B7D2 · hsl(230, 26%, 76%)
Nearby match
Indigo Silk Muted
#9FA4BC · hsl(230, 18%, 68%)
Nearby match
Indigo Pearl Muted
#CFD1DE · hsl(230, 18%, 84%)

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
AAA8.2:1
Amber Ink Faint
#272620
AAA8:1
Amber Ink Muted
#2A281D
AAA7.8:1
Amber Ink Dust
#2D2A1A
AAA7.6:1
Amber Ink Soft
#302C18
AAA7:1
Amber Ink Clear
#373110
AAA8.3:1
Saffron Ink Faint
#272520

Color Vision Simulation

How this color appears with different color vision deficiencies.

Full simulator
Deuteranopia
#BDBDC5
Protanopia
#BDBDC6
Tritanopia
#BCC4C3
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