Tints & Shades
50
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Scale from white (50) through Pool Blue (500) to black (900), interpolated in Lab color space.
Color Values
- HEX
- #00B5CC
- RGB
- rgb(0, 181, 204)
- HSL
- hsl(187, 100%, 40%)
- OKLCH
- oklch(0.709 0.123 211)
- CMYK
- cmyk(100%, 11%, 0%, 20%)
--color-pool-bluebg-[#00B5CC]Accessibility
Score: 48/100On White (#FFF)
2.48:1
On Black (#000)
8.48:1
On Light Gray (#F5F5F5)
2.27:1
Best text color on this background:
Design Applications
background-color: #00B5CC
color: #00B5CC
bg-[#00B5CC] text-[#000000]
border-left: 4px solid #00B5CC
Color Harmonies
Complementary
Salmon
#FA8072
Split-Complementary
Similar Colors
Color Meaning & Psychology
Cyan sits between blue and green at the edge of visible light and is the color the eye uses to adjust from warm to cool light. It feels technological, clean, and forward-thinking. In printing, cyan is a primary process color (CMYK), giving it an association with professional reproduction and precision. In design, bright cyan signals digital interfaces, clean tech, and innovation. Lighter cyans feel fresh and airy; deeper cyans approach teal's sophistication. Cyan's primary cultural associations are ocean, ice, and digital displays. It is widely used in healthcare technology brands because it combines blue's trust with green's health connotations without the blandness of either on their own. Its deeper, richer tone gives it gravitas and sophistication, making it well-suited for primary brand colors, typography, and contexts where authority matters.
Industry Usage
Common contexts and industries where Pool Blue is applied in professional design.
- Digital technology and software products
- Water sports and aquatic brands
- Clean energy and sustainability companies
- Healthcare data visualization tools
- Modern media and streaming services
- Virtual reality and immersive tech brands
- Aerospace and precision technology
- Clinical data and diagnostic imaging products
Accessibility Considerations
Normal Text
Fails AA
4.5:1 minimum required
Large Text
Fails AA Large
3:1 minimum required
UI Components
Check contrast
3:1 for non-text UI
Pool Blue is a light color. Use black (#000000) text on top of it for maximum readability (8.48:1). Avoid white text on this background.
CSS & Code Examples
Background
background-color: #00B5CC;Text
color: #00B5CC;Border
border: 2px solid #00B5CC;Box Shadow
box-shadow: 0 4px 20px #00B5CC40;Gradient
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #00B5CC, #60e7ff);Tailwind-style
--color-pool-blue: #00B5CC;Tailwind CSS Utilities
Use arbitrary value syntax in Tailwind CSS to apply Pool Blue without a custom config.
Background
bg-[#00B5CC]Text
text-[#00B5CC]Border
border-[#00B5CC]Ring
ring-[#00B5CC]Fill
fill-[#00B5CC]From (gradient)
from-[#00B5CC]Via (gradient)
via-[#00B5CC]To (gradient)
to-[#00B5CC]Design Tokens
Ready-to-use Pool Blue design token in CSS custom properties, SCSS, Tailwind v3/v4, and JSON formats.
CSS Custom Properties
:root {
--color-pool-blue: #00B5CC;
--color-pool-blue-rgb: 0, 181, 204;
--color-pool-blue-hsl: 187, 100%, 40%;
}SCSS Variables
$color-pool-blue: #00B5CC; $color-pool-blue-rgb: 0, 181, 204; $color-pool-blue-hsl: 187, 100%, 40%;
Tailwind v3 Config
// tailwind.config.js
module.exports = {
theme: {
extend: {
colors: {
'pool-blue': '#00B5CC',
},
},
},
};Tailwind v4 (@theme)
/* tailwind.css */
@theme {
--color-pool-blue: #00B5CC;
}JSON Design Token (W3C format)
{
"pool-blue": {
"value": "#00B5CC",
"type": "color",
"description": "Pool Blue — #00B5CC"
}
}More cyan colors
View all →What Does Pool Blue Mean? Color Psychology & Cultural Symbolism
Pool Blue at #00B5CC has the visual quality of high-frequency light—crisp, clear, and impossible to miss in complex visual fields. This perceptual character translates directly into openness: a quality that digital designers leverage for precision highlighting and attention guidance.
- Across color psychology research, cyan consistently tests high for "precision" associations, making Pool Blue a reliable vehicle for openness in cross-demographic audiences.
- Brand designers draw on cyan-family tones to project modernity and innovation—values that Pool Blue communicates in a medium key.
- At 100% saturation, Pool Blue reads as vivid—Pure vivid cyan is the color of screens, lasers, and science fiction—among the most technologically coded colors in human design vocabulary.
- Pool Blue's medium lightness (40%) shifts its psychological register: a balanced mid-tone that embodies clarity, technology, freshness, and precision at its most direct.
The future feels like Pool Blue in design systems that want to get there first.
How to Use Pool Blue in Design: Applications, Pairings & Best Practices
In UI design, Pool Blue punches above its weight. Even small applications—a chart accent, an active state indicator, a badge color—carry significant visual energy in this wavelength range.
- Avoid: traditional or heritage brands, warm and artisanal contexts, and food packaging (no natural cyan foods).
- Color harmonies: Pool Blue's complementary color creates a high-energy split ideal for promotional design; its analogous palette (±30° hue) builds cohesive, monochromatic sophistication.
- Proportional use: Pool Blue's vivid saturation (100%) means small applications—accents, highlights, icons—deliver maximum impact without visual fatigue. Reserve large-scale use for intentional brand moments.
- Pool Blue creates strong legibility with black text overlays (8.5:1 contrast ratio), making it a reliable background or surface color in design systems
- Typography: Pool Blue as text requires a dark background; its 40% lightness means it provides 2.5:1 contrast on white, not meeting WCAG AA.
The future feels like Pool Blue in design systems that want to get there first.
Pool Blue Accessibility: WCAG Contrast Ratios, Color Blindness & Inclusive Design
Pool Blue (#00B5CC) achieves a 8.48:1 contrast ratio with black 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: 37.4%.
- As text on white (#FFFFFF): 2.48:1 — Fail
- As text on black (#000000): 8.48:1 — AAA ✓
- Best text color on Pool Blue background: Black (#000000) at 8.48:1
- WCAG 2.1 luminance: 37.4% — mid-range luminance—it sits in the transition zone where both dark and light text approaches require testing against the 4.5:1 WCAG threshold
- Pool Blue qualifies for all text sizes including small body copy (AAA).
- Color blindness consideration: tritanopia (blue-yellow color blindness, ~0.003% of population) may affect how this color reads. While rare, for maximum accessibility supplement color signals with text or icon indicators in critical states.
For production use, test Pool Blue against your specific background colors rather than assuming #FFFFFF or #000000 performance translates. Surrounding colors alter perceived contrast.
Pool Blue in Industry: Branding, Design & Market Applications
Pool Blue (#00B5CC) is most at home in industries where clarity, technology, freshness, and precision are key brand values. Its medium quality makes it particularly effective in Technology & Software contexts, where the vivid saturation signals clarity at exactly the right register.
- Technology & Software: Cyan's additive light origins make it inherently digital—it's literally the color of screens. Tech brands use it to signal cutting-edge, screen-native products and the precision of digital systems. (examples: Notion, Slack, Salesforce) Works especially well in dark-mode interfaces where cyan provides high contrast and futuristic character.
- Healthcare & Medical Imaging: Medical imaging technology (X-rays, ultrasounds, 3D scans) frequently uses cyan highlighting for precision and clarity. Healthcare tech brands have adopted this association to signal clinical precision in digital health products. (examples: CVS Health, Mayo Clinic, Kaiser Permanente) Pairs naturally with white and dark gray for a medical-precision aesthetic.
- Clean Energy & Environment: Clean energy brands use cyan to signal the intersection of technology and environmental consciousness—the "clean" tech positioning that neither pure green (environmental emphasis) nor pure blue (tech emphasis) fully achieves alone. Cyan-to-green gradients have become a shorthand for clean tech and sustainable innovation.
- Brand positioning: Pool Blue is best suited for brands projecting precision, technology, clarity. Categories outside this positioning—traditional or heritage brands—tend to see weaker results.
- Adjacent applications: Beyond primary industries, Pool Blue works effectively in tech products, data dashboards, medical imaging—contexts where clarity serves a secondary but reinforcing role.
The industries where Pool Blue performs best are those where the audience expects clarity. Build brand strategy around this alignment, not against it.
Accessibility & Design Guides
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the hex code for Pool Blue? ▾
- The hex code for Pool Blue is #00B5CC. Its RGB values are rgb(0, 181, 204) and its HSL values are hsl(187, 100%, 40%).
- What does Pool Blue mean in design? ▾
- Cyan sits between blue and green at the edge of visible light and is the color the eye uses to adjust from warm to cool light. It feels technological, clean, and forward-thinking. In printing, cyan is a primary process color (CMYK), giving it an association with professional reproduction and precision. In design, bright cyan signals digital interfaces, clean tech, and innovation. Lighter cyans feel fresh and airy; deeper cyans approach teal's sophistication. Cyan's primary cultural associations are ocean, ice, and digital displays. It is widely used in healthcare technology brands because it combines blue's trust with green's health connotations without the blandness of either on their own. Its deeper, richer tone gives it gravitas and sophistication, making it well-suited for primary brand colors, typography, and contexts where authority matters.
- Is Pool Blue WCAG accessible? ▾
- Pool Blue (#00B5CC) does not pass WCAG AA on white (2.48:1 ratio). Use it on dark backgrounds where it achieves 8.48:1. Its overall accessibility score is 48/100.
- What colors go well with Pool Blue? ▾
- Pool Blue pairs well with its complementary color Salmon (#FA8072). Analogous colors like Pewter and Muted Teal also work harmoniously. Check the Color Harmonies section above for the full palette.
- What is Pool Blue used for? ▾
- Pool Blue is commonly used for: Digital technology and software products; Water sports and aquatic brands; Clean energy and sustainability companies; Healthcare data visualization tools; Modern media and streaming services.
- What are the CSS and Tailwind values for Pool Blue? ▾
- In CSS, use `color: #00B5CC` or `background-color: #00B5CC`. The CSS custom property is `--color-pool-blue: #00B5CC`. In Tailwind CSS, use the arbitrary value class `bg-[#00B5CC]` for backgrounds or `text-[#00B5CC]` for text.