Tints & Shades
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Scale from white (50) through Matte Black (500) to black (900), interpolated in Lab color space.
Color Values
- HEX
- #28282B
- RGB
- rgb(40, 40, 43)
- HSL
- hsl(240, 4%, 16%)
- OKLCH
- oklch(0.278 0.005 286)
- CMYK
- cmyk(7%, 7%, 0%, 83%)
--color-matte-blackbg-[#28282B]Accessibility
Score: 96/100On White (#FFF)
14.7:1
On Black (#000)
1.43:1
On Light Gray (#F5F5F5)
13.48:1
Best text color on this background:
Design Applications
background-color: #28282B
color: #28282B
bg-[#28282B] text-[#FFFFFF]
border-left: 4px solid #28282B
Color Harmonies
Similar Colors
Color Meaning & Psychology
Black absorbs all light and reflects none. It is the ultimate authority color — the color of formality, power, and sophisticated elegance. Black creates maximum contrast with other colors, making it a universal text and typography choice. In luxury branding, black signals exclusivity, restraint, and quality. In tech, matte black finishes convey premium build. Black clothing was historically mourning dress, then the Chanel "little black dress" made it the epitome of timeless style. In interface design, dark mode has made black backgrounds mainstream, valued for reduced eye strain and OLED power efficiency. Black's psychological weight means it should be deployed with intentionality — it commands the eye and the room. Its near-neutral saturation gives it a versatile, subdued character that works as a sophisticated accent without dominating a composition.
Industry Usage
Common contexts and industries where Matte Black is applied in professional design.
- Luxury fashion and premium apparel
- Prestige automotive brands
- High-end watches and jewelry
- Premium spirits and beverage brands
- Professional photography and videography
- Technology brands emphasizing premium tiers
- Music and entertainment industry branding
- Sophisticated cosmetics and fragrance
Accessibility Considerations
Normal Text
Passes AA
4.5:1 minimum required
Large Text
Passes AA Large
3:1 minimum required
UI Components
Meets 1.4.11
3:1 for non-text UI
Matte Black is a dark color. Use white (#FFFFFF) text on top of it for maximum readability (14.70:1). Avoid small black text on this background.
CSS & Code Examples
Background
background-color: #28282B;Text
color: #28282B;Border
border: 2px solid #28282B;Box Shadow
box-shadow: 0 4px 20px #28282B40;Gradient
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #28282B, #505054);Tailwind-style
--color-matte-black: #28282B;Tailwind CSS Utilities
Use arbitrary value syntax in Tailwind CSS to apply Matte Black without a custom config.
Background
bg-[#28282B]Text
text-[#28282B]Border
border-[#28282B]Ring
ring-[#28282B]Fill
fill-[#28282B]From (gradient)
from-[#28282B]Via (gradient)
via-[#28282B]To (gradient)
to-[#28282B]Design Tokens
Ready-to-use Matte Black design token in CSS custom properties, SCSS, Tailwind v3/v4, and JSON formats.
CSS Custom Properties
:root {
--color-matte-black: #28282B;
--color-matte-black-rgb: 40, 40, 43;
--color-matte-black-hsl: 240, 4%, 16%;
}SCSS Variables
$color-matte-black: #28282B; $color-matte-black-rgb: 40, 40, 43; $color-matte-black-hsl: 240, 4%, 16%;
Tailwind v3 Config
// tailwind.config.js
module.exports = {
theme: {
extend: {
colors: {
'matte-black': '#28282B',
},
},
},
};Tailwind v4 (@theme)
/* tailwind.css */
@theme {
--color-matte-black: #28282B;
}JSON Design Token (W3C format)
{
"matte-black": {
"value": "#28282B",
"type": "color",
"description": "Matte Black — #28282B"
}
}More black colors
View all →What Does Matte Black Mean? Color Psychology & Cultural Symbolism
The psychology of Matte Black draws on one of visual perception's most fundamental facts: black is the absence of reflected light, and the brain processes this absolute darkness as power, finality, and authority. This is why Matte Black reads as power in every context where it appears.
- Across color psychology research, black consistently tests high for "luxury" associations, making Matte Black a reliable vehicle for power in cross-demographic audiences.
- Brand designers draw on black-family tones to project precision and power—values that Matte Black communicates in a dark key.
- At 4% saturation, Matte Black reads as neutral—Warm near-blacks (very dark browns, dark charcoal) soften pure black's coldness while retaining its authority—increasingly used in luxury and contemporary design as alternatives.
- Matte Black's dark lightness (16%) shifts its psychological register: Pure and near-black tones are maximum design authority—the most contrast-giving background in all of design, and the foundation of luxury aesthetics worldwide.
When Matte Black is right for a brand, nothing else comes close. When it's wrong, everything feels heavy.
How to Use Matte Black in Design: Applications, Pairings & Best Practices
The art of designing with Matte Black is knowing when to use it and when to pull back. Used as a background, it makes everything else more vivid. Used everywhere, it becomes a tunnel.
- Avoid: children's products, healthcare spaces (clinical coldness without warmth), and brands that need to communicate friendliness or approachability as primary values.
- Color harmonies: Matte Black's complementary color creates a high-energy split ideal for promotional design; its analogous palette (±30° hue) builds cohesive, monochromatic sophistication.
- Proportional use: Matte Black's neutral quality means it scales well across proportions—from full-bleed backgrounds to single-pixel borders—making it an unusually versatile palette component.
- As a dark tone, Matte Black creates maximum contrast with white and light neutrals—excellent for creating premium dark-mode sections, bold headers, and high-drama brand moments
- Typography: Matte Black works as a background behind white text but requires careful sizing—test at intended heading and body sizes before finalizing.
When Matte Black is right for a brand, nothing else comes close. When it's wrong, everything feels heavy.
Matte Black Accessibility: WCAG Contrast Ratios, Color Blindness & Inclusive Design
Matte Black (#28282B) achieves a 14.70:1 contrast ratio with white text, surpassing the WCAG 2.1 AAA threshold of 7:1. This exceptional contrast qualifies it for body text, UI components at any size, and all accessibility-sensitive interface contexts. Relative luminance: 2.1%.
- As text on white (#FFFFFF): 14.70:1 — AAA ✓
- As text on black (#000000): 1.43:1 — Fail
- Best text color on Matte Black background: White (#FFFFFF) at 14.70:1
- WCAG 2.1 luminance: 2.1% — low luminance (dark)—it provides strong contrast for white and light overlaid text, functioning well as a background in dark-mode and header contexts
- Matte Black qualifies for all text sizes including small body copy (AAA).
For production use, test Matte Black against your specific background colors rather than assuming #FFFFFF or #000000 performance translates. Surrounding colors alter perceived contrast.
Matte Black in Industry: Branding, Design & Market Applications
Matte Black (#28282B) is most at home in industries where power, sophistication, authority, and elegance are key brand values. Its dark quality makes it particularly effective in Luxury & Fashion contexts, where the neutral saturation signals sophistication at exactly the right register.
- Luxury & Fashion: Black is luxury's default language—from Chanel's packaging to Apple's product photography, it signals premium, exclusive, and uncompromising quality. In fashion, it's simultaneously the most versatile and the most authoritative choice. Matte black signals premium restraint; glossy black signals dramatic luxury. The finish matters as much as the color.
- Technology: Dark mode interfaces and premium device aesthetics have made black a technology color as much as a luxury one. Apple's product line, premium audio equipment, and high-end consumer electronics all use black to signal technical precision and premium positioning. (examples: Apple, Microsoft, Salesforce) Black in tech interfaces benefits from accent colors that pop against it—cyan, neon, and pure white are classic pairings.
- Media & Entertainment: Movie credits, music packaging, editorial magazine design, and streaming platforms use black to focus attention and signal cultural seriousness. It's the color of concentrated attention—everything unnecessary falls away in a black-dominated design. (examples: Disney+, Hulu, Netflix) The black-and-white combination is the most timeless in editorial design for its ability to focus on content without visual noise.
- Brand positioning: Matte Black is best suited for brands projecting luxury, authority, sophistication. Categories outside this positioning—children's products—tend to see weaker results.
- Adjacent applications: Beyond primary industries, Matte Black works effectively in premium packaging, luxury retail, professional typography—contexts where sophistication serves a secondary but reinforcing role.
The industries where Matte Black performs best are those where the audience expects sophistication. Build brand strategy around this alignment, not against it.
Accessibility & Design Guides
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the hex code for Matte Black? ▾
- The hex code for Matte Black is #28282B. Its RGB values are rgb(40, 40, 43) and its HSL values are hsl(240, 4%, 16%).
- What does Matte Black mean in design? ▾
- Black absorbs all light and reflects none. It is the ultimate authority color — the color of formality, power, and sophisticated elegance. Black creates maximum contrast with other colors, making it a universal text and typography choice. In luxury branding, black signals exclusivity, restraint, and quality. In tech, matte black finishes convey premium build. Black clothing was historically mourning dress, then the Chanel "little black dress" made it the epitome of timeless style. In interface design, dark mode has made black backgrounds mainstream, valued for reduced eye strain and OLED power efficiency. Black's psychological weight means it should be deployed with intentionality — it commands the eye and the room. Its near-neutral saturation gives it a versatile, subdued character that works as a sophisticated accent without dominating a composition.
- Is Matte Black WCAG accessible? ▾
- Matte Black (#28282B) passes WCAG AAA on white with a 14.7:1 contrast ratio. Its overall accessibility score is 96/100.
- What colors go well with Matte Black? ▾
- Matte Black pairs well with its complementary color Yellow (#FFFF00). Analogous colors like Bleu de France and Royal Blue also work harmoniously. Check the Color Harmonies section above for the full palette.
- What is Matte Black used for? ▾
- Matte Black is commonly used for: Luxury fashion and premium apparel; Prestige automotive brands; High-end watches and jewelry; Premium spirits and beverage brands; Professional photography and videography.
- What are the CSS and Tailwind values for Matte Black? ▾
- In CSS, use `color: #28282B` or `background-color: #28282B`. The CSS custom property is `--color-matte-black: #28282B`. In Tailwind CSS, use the arbitrary value class `bg-[#28282B]` for backgrounds or `text-[#28282B]` for text.