Madder Blue Color

#b5b6ce

Madder Blue is pale, cool-toned shade of cool blue. It is better contrasting with white. This color combines beautifully with warm yellow, cool green or cool red

Inverse Color #4a4931
Complementary Color #cecdb4
Color Shade: cool blue (237.6° hue)
Color Temperature: cool
Lightness: 75.88% (better contrasting with white)
Madder Blue Color Sample
Madder Blue Color Sample

Better Alternatives To #b5b6ce

If you're looking for a similar cool blue shade, there are some better alternatives to Madder Blue Color. The Hint of Violet color for instance is a lighter and a bit more faded option, however this color has a blue cyan bias. Consider a darker and more saturated alternative called Thistle Down (#9499bb) for more energetic effect. Try Purple Veil as it also a bit more faded and calm.

Complementary Palette

#cecdb4 is the best complementary color to Madder Blue. Warm yellow shades generally complement the cool blue hues best as they are found on the opposite end of the color wheel. The most popular #b5b6ce complementary color is Foggy Gray, as it offers maximum contrast and grab the viewer's attention.

Analogous Palette

The analogous palette of cool cyan, cool blue, and warm blue colors offers a soft combination of similar cool shades. The analogous colors of Blue Haze are #b4c2ce and #c0b4ce. Thus found on the left and right of #b5b6ce on the color wheel with a 30° gap. Consider matching Heather and Chatelle colors as they work well with Madder Blue.

Split-complementary Palette

The split-complementary Madder Blue palette consists of #c2ceb4 and #cec0b4 colors. They can be found 30° apart on either side of the complementary color (#cecdb4). Try Coriander and Soft Amber colors in combination with #b5b6ce, 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 #b5b6ce offers a combination of warm green and cool red shades and equally high contrast between the three of them. Find triadic colors at the 120° distance from the Madder Blue. Thus Spring Rain and Cold Turkey giving maximum hue separation to use all three together.

Square Palette

The square color palette of Madder Blue contains three additional colors. Thus, complementary Foggy Gray, Lily, and Gum Leaf split by 90° on the color wheel. #b5b6ce square combo is a palette of cool blue, warm magenta, warm yellow and cool green 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. Madder Blue tetradic combo consists of warm yellow complementary color (#cecdb4) and two others. The Cold Turkey is positioned 120° clockwise from the primary color and Jet Stream – 120° from the complementary Foggy Gray. This palette is not recommended to use as-is. Try to tweak the saturation and brightness of #ceb4b5 and #b4cecd.

Conversion Table

In a RGB color space, hex #b5b6ce is made of 32% red, 32% green and 36% blue. In a HSL mode Madder Blue has a hue angle of 237.6°, a saturation of 20.33% and a lightness of 75.88%. In a CMYK space (used in printing only), hex #b5b6ce is made of 9.8% cyan, 9.41% magenta, 0% yellow and 19.22% black ink.

HEX #b5b6ce
RGB Decimal rgb(181,182,206)
RGB Percentage 32%, 32%, 36%
CMYK 9.8, 9.41, 0, 19.22
HSL hsl(237.6,20.33%,75.88%)
HSV (or HSB) hsv(237.6,12.14%,80.78%)
CIE-LAB lab(74.658,4.4087,-12.2103)
XYZ xyz(46.9246,47.7359,65.1333)
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