Essential Grey is pale, warm-toned shade of warm red. It is better contrasting with white. This color combines beautifully with cool cyan, cool magenta or cool green
| Inverse Color | #434749 |
| Complementary Color | #b6babc |
| Color Shade: | warm red (20° hue) |
| Color Temperature: | warm |
| Lightness: | 72.55% (better contrasting with white) |
If you're looking for a similar warm red shade, there are some better alternatives to Essential Grey Color. The Simmering Smoke color for instance is a darker and a bit more vibrant option, however this color has a mid red bias. Consider a darker and more saturated alternative called String (#aa9f96) for more energetic effect. Try Moleskin as it also a bit more vibrant and energetic.
#b6babc is the best complementary color to Essential Grey. Cool cyan shades generally complement the warm red hues best as they are found on the opposite end of the color wheel. The most popular #bcb8b6 complementary color is Silver Sand, as it offers maximum contrast and grab the viewer's attention.
The analogous palette of cool red, warm red, and warm yellow colors offers a soft combination of similar warm shades. The analogous colors of Nobel are #bcb6b7 and #bcbbb6. Thus found on the left and right of #bcb8b6 on the color wheel with a 30° gap. Consider matching Pink Swan and Gray Nickel colors as they work well with Essential Grey.
The split-complementary Essential Grey palette consists of #b6b7bc and #b6bcbb colors. They can be found 30° apart on either side of the complementary color (#b6babc). Try Bombay and Silver Sand colors in combination with #bcb8b6, as they are not as contrasting as a complementary color, hence, giving more hue variety to make your design stand out.
The triadic palette of #bcb8b6 offers a combination of warm blue and cool green shades and equally high contrast between the three of them. Find triadic colors at the 120° distance from the Essential Grey. Thus French Gray and Pumice giving maximum hue separation to use all three together.
The square color palette of Essential Grey contains three additional colors. Thus, complementary Silver Sand, Green Spring, and Chatelle split by 90° on the color wheel. #bcb8b6 square combo is a palette of warm red, warm green, cool cyan and cool magenta shades that work together well.
The tetradic palette is a bit more complex than the square and has more of a rectangle shape. Essential Grey tetradic combo consists of cool cyan complementary color (#b6babc) and two others. The Pumice is positioned 120° clockwise from the primary color and Pale Slate – 120° from the complementary Silver Sand. This palette is not recommended to use as-is. Try to tweak the saturation and brightness of #b6bcb8 and #bcb6ba.
In a RGB color space, hex #bcb8b6 is made of 34% red, 33% green and 33% blue. In a HSL mode Essential Grey has a hue angle of 20°, a saturation of 4.29% and a lightness of 72.55%. In a CMYK space (used in printing only), hex #bcb8b6 is made of 0% cyan, 1.57% magenta, 2.36% yellow and 26.27% black ink.
| HEX | #bcb8b6 |
| RGB Decimal | rgb(188,184,182) |
| RGB Percentage | 34%, 33%, 33% |
| CMYK | 0, 1.57, 2.36, 26.27 |
| HSL | hsl(20,4.29%,72.55%) |
| HSV (or HSB) | hsv(20,3.19%,73.73%) |
| CIE-LAB | lab(75.045,1.0449,1.503) |
| XYZ | xyz(46.323,48.3497,51.1469) |