Water Surface Color

#a9bdb8

Water Surface is pale, warm-toned shade of green cyan. It is better contrasting with white. This color combines beautifully with cool red, mid yellow or violet

Inverse Color #564247
Complementary Color #bca9ad
Color Shade: green cyan (165° hue)
Color Temperature: warm
Lightness: 70.2% (better contrasting with white)
Water Surface Color Sample
Water Surface Color Sample

Better Alternatives To #a9bdb8

If you're looking for a similar green cyan shade, there are some better alternatives to Water Surface Color. The Rare Happening color for instance is a darker and a bit more vibrant option, however this color has a cool green bias. Consider a darker and more saturated alternative called Sea Nymph (#8aaea4) for more energetic effect. Try Silicate Green as it also a bit more vibrant and energetic.

Complementary Palette

#bca9ad is the best complementary color to Water Surface. Cool red shades generally complement the green cyan hues best as they are found on the opposite end of the color wheel. The most popular #a9bdb8 complementary color is Pink Swan, as it offers maximum contrast and grab the viewer's attention.

Analogous Palette

The analogous palette of mid green, green cyan, and cool cyan colors offers a soft combination of similar warm shades. The analogous colors of Tower Gray are #a9bcad and #a9b7bc. Thus found on the left and right of #a9bdb8 on the color wheel with a 30° gap. Consider matching Norway and Tower Gray colors as they work well with Water Surface.

Split-complementary Palette

The split-complementary Water Surface palette consists of #bcada9 and #bca9b7 colors. They can be found 30° apart on either side of the complementary color (#bca9ad). Try Silk and Lily colors in combination with #a9bdb8, as they are not as contrasting as a complementary color, hence, giving more hue variety to make your design stand out.

Triadic Palette

The triadic palette of #a9bdb8 offers a combination of orange and violet shades and equally high contrast between the three of them. Find triadic colors at the 120° distance from the Water Surface. Thus Nomad and London Hue giving maximum hue separation to use all three together.

Square Palette

The square color palette of Water Surface contains three additional colors. Thus, complementary Pink Swan, Spun Pearl, and Eagle split by 90° on the color wheel. #a9bdb8 square combo is a palette of green cyan, mid blue, cool red and mid yellow shades that work together well.

Tetradic Palette

The tetradic palette is a bit more complex than the square and has more of a rectangle shape. Water Surface tetradic combo consists of cool red complementary color (#bca9ad) and two others. The London Hue is positioned 120° clockwise from the primary color and Green Spring – 120° from the complementary Pink Swan. This palette is not recommended to use as-is. Try to tweak the saturation and brightness of #b7a9bc and #aebca9.

Conversion Table

In a RGB color space, hex #a9bdb8 is made of 31% red, 35% green and 34% blue. In a HSL mode Water Surface has a hue angle of 165°, a saturation of 13.16% and a lightness of 70.2%. In a CMYK space (used in printing only), hex #a9bdb8 is made of 7.85% cyan, 0% magenta, 1.96% yellow and 25.88% black ink.

HEX #a9bdb8
RGB Decimal rgb(169,189,184)
RGB Percentage 31%, 35%, 34%
CMYK 7.85, 0, 1.96, 25.88
HSL hsl(165,13.16%,70.2%)
HSV (or HSB) hsv(165,10.58%,74.12%)
CIE-LAB lab(75.008,-7.8108,0.1888)
XYZ xyz(43.2115,48.2909,52.391)
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