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Apricot Dusk Dust
Color detail

Apricot Dusk Dust

Orange · Hue 40
Metrics
S 26% · L 34%
Contrast (WCAG)
on white6.3:1AAon black3.3:1AA Large
Save to journalSign in to saveStart palette from thisRecent trail

About this color

Apricot Dusk Dust (#6D5E40) belongs to the orange family — hue 40°, 26% saturation, 34% lightness. Copy the hex, RGB, or HSL value above, or paste the CSS custom property below into your stylesheet to reference this color directly.

CSS
:root {
  --colorarchive-apricot-dusk-dust: #6D5E40;
  --colorarchive-apricot-dusk-dust-hsl: hsl(40, 26%, 34%);
  --colorarchive-apricot-dusk-dust-rgb: rgb(109, 94, 64);
}

AI Color Names

Let AI suggest alternative poetic names for this color in English and Chinese.

Design Context

EarthyArtisanalGrounded
Common in

Coffee & Bakery · Craft & Handmade · Outdoor Gear

Pairs well with

Olive green, warm cream, or slate gray for organic, natural palettes

Design tip

Great for artisanal brands and rustic interfaces. Combines well with textured backgrounds and serif typography.

Cultural context ▶

Burnt orange and terra cotta evoke earthiness, autumn, and craftsmanship. Popular in Southwestern and Mediterranean design.

Color Origins

Orange family

Citrus, fire, and a color named after a fruit.

Heritage

Orange is unusual: in English the color was named after the fruit, not the other way around — the fruit's name arrived in the 14th century, but until the 16th century this hue was simply 'yellow-red'. Earlier pigments included realgar (toxic), saffron (priceless), and orpiment. Cadmium orange, introduced in the 19th century, gave painters from the Impressionists onward a stable, brilliant orange — though cadmium is itself toxic.

Across cultures

In Hindu and Buddhist tradition saffron orange marks renunciation — the robe of Hindu sannyasis and of Theravada monks. The Dutch House of Orange-Nassau gave the Netherlands a national identity color, still worn at football matches and on King's Day. In Ireland, orange is the Protestant counterpart to green's Catholic association — the country's flag literally encodes the divide. Halloween's orange-and-black is a 20th-century American invention that has since gone global.

In the wild

Hermès orange is a brand asset traceable to a 1942 wartime cardboard shortage. Penguin Books color-coded its early paperbacks by genre — orange meant general fiction. Nickelodeon, Fanta, and easyJet all use orange, which reads playful and consumer-friendly while staying outside the more crowded red and yellow lanes. NASA's shuttle-era launch-and-entry suits were International Orange so rescue crews could spot astronauts after a bailout over the ocean.

How it reads

Orange is warm without the urgency of red. It signals appetite (used heavily in fast food), creativity, and approachability. At low saturation it becomes terracotta, rust, or apricot — earthy palettes for hospitality and craft. At high saturation it reads as a sport, energy drink, or warning hazard. Orange and teal is a familiar modern film-grade pairing; the contrast between warm skin tones and cool shadows is engineered for it.

This particular tone

A dim, atmospheric reading — closer to a colored shadow than a stated hue. Excellent as a near-black on dark UI or as a moody background.

Lightness band: At this depth the hue starts behaving like a neutral — it can substitute for black in many contexts while still carrying a faint chromatic temperature. It pairs especially well with off-whites and warm metallics.

Saturation band: The low saturation pulls this color toward earthen, vintage, or editorial palettes. It reads as confident and grown-up rather than playful, and it tolerates being used in large blocks without becoming visually noisy.

Brands using a similar color

Within the public brand-guidelines reference catalog, these are the closest matches to #6D5E40.

  • Microsoftneutral
    Slate Gray · #737373
    →
  • Airbnbneutral
    Hof Gray · #484848
    →
  • Notionneutral
    Notion Gray · #787774
    →

Cultures using a similar color

From the cultural-palette catalog, these regions feature a color close to #6D5E40.

  • IcelandLopapeysa Sheep Brown
    #7C5A3A · Natural-dye Icelandic wool
    →
  • France (Paris)Zinc Roof Grey
    #5E6566 · Oxidized zinc roof tiles, central Paris
    →
  • IrelandAtlantic Slate
    #5A6770 · Cliff face + winter sea
    →

Color guides

Go deeper on using orange and color in design.

Color History1970s Earth Tone Colors: Harvest Gold, Avocado Green & Burnt Orange PalettesColor TheoryWarm Color Palette Guide: Reds, Oranges, Yellows, and Their NeutralsBrand & MarketingBrand Color Palette Ideas That Hold Up Beyond the Launch

Tonal strip

All lightness levels at this hue and saturation. Click any to navigate.

Palette moves

Instead of stopping at one swatch, use nearby, opposite, and tonal neighbors to branch into a broader palette.

Lighter companion
Apricot Velvet Dust
#87744F · hsl(40, 26%, 42%)
Darker companion
Apricot Shadow Dust
#5A4E35 · hsl(40, 26%, 28%)
Complementary counterpoint
Cobalt Dusk Dust
#404F6D · hsl(220, 26%, 34%)
Analogous lead
Citrine Dusk Dust
#6D6D40 · hsl(60, 26%, 34%)
Analogous echo
Vermillion Dusk Dust
#6D4B40 · hsl(15, 26%, 34%)
Triadic +120°
Teal Dusk Dust
#406D5E · hsl(160, 26%, 34%)
Triadic +240°
Mulberry Dusk Dust
#5E406D · hsl(280, 26%, 34%)
Split-comp +150°
Cerulean Dusk Dust
#40666D · hsl(190, 26%, 34%)
Split-comp +210°
Violet Dusk Dust
#48406D · hsl(250, 26%, 34%)
Export preview
Base: Apricot Dusk Dust #6D5E40
Lighter companion: Apricot Velvet Dust #87744F
Darker companion: Apricot Shadow Dust #5A4E35
Complementary counterpoint: Cobalt Dusk Dust #404F6D
Analogous lead: Citrine Dusk Dust #6D6D40
Analogous echo: Vermillion Dusk Dust #6D4B40
Triadic +120°: Teal Dusk Dust #406D5E
Triadic +240°: Mulberry Dusk Dust #5E406D
Split-comp +150°: Cerulean Dusk Dust #40666D
Split-comp +210°: Violet Dusk Dust #48406D

Compare

See how Apricot Dusk Dust compares side by side with related colors.

vsApricot Velvet DustvsApricot Shadow DustvsCobalt Dusk DustvsCitrine Dusk DustvsVermillion Dusk DustvsTeal Dusk Dust

Nearest neighbors

The closest archive matches by hue, saturation, and lightness.

Search by hex
Nearby match
Apricot Dusk Muted
#665C47 · hsl(40, 18%, 34%)
Nearby match
Apricot Dusk Soft
#746139 · hsl(40, 34%, 34%)
Nearby match
Apricot Shadow Dust
#5A4E35 · hsl(40, 26%, 28%)
Nearby match
Saffron Dusk Dust
#6D6240 · hsl(45, 26%, 34%)
Nearby match
Apricot Velvet Dust
#87744F · hsl(40, 26%, 42%)
Nearby match
Apricot Dusk Faint
#5F5A4E · hsl(40, 10%, 34%)

Accessible pairings

Archive colors that meet WCAG contrast standards when paired with this color. Use as text-on-background or background-on-text.

Contrast checker
AA6:1
Cobalt Veil Faint
#F9FAFA
AA6:1
Cobalt Veil Muted
#F9FAFB
AA6:1
Cobalt Veil Dust
#F9F9FB
AA6:1
Cobalt Veil Soft
#F8F9FC
AA6:1
Cobalt Veil Clear
#F7F9FD
AA6:1
Cobalt Veil Vivid
#F6F9FE

Color Vision Simulation

How this color appears with different color vision deficiencies.

Full simulator
Deuteranopia
#68694B
Protanopia
#676749
Tritanopia
#6C4F50
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Saturation ladder

Same hue and lightness, from gray to pure

Search
Taupe Gray Dusk#5B5852 · hsl(40, 5%, 34%)Apricot Dusk Faint#5F5A4E · hsl(40, 10%, 34%)Apricot Dusk Muted#665C47 · hsl(40, 18%, 34%)Apricot Dusk Dust#6D5E40 · hsl(40, 26%, 34%)Apricot Dusk Soft#746139 · hsl(40, 34%, 34%)Apricot Dusk Clear#866628 · hsl(40, 54%, 34%)Apricot Dusk Vivid#976C17 · hsl(40, 74%, 34%)Apricot Dusk Bright#A06F0E · hsl(40, 84%, 34%)Apricot Dusk Pure#A67107 · hsl(40, 92%, 34%)
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