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Cool Gray Nocturne
Color detail

Cool Gray Nocturne

Neutral gray · Hue 210
Metrics
S 6% · L 20%
Contrast (WCAG)
on white12.7:1AAon black1.7:1Fail
Save to journalSign in to saveStart palette from thisRecent trail

About this color

Cool Gray Nocturne (#303336) belongs to the neutral grays — hue 210°, 6% saturation, 20% 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-cool-gray-nocturne: #303336;
  --colorarchive-cool-gray-nocturne-hsl: hsl(210, 6%, 20%);
  --colorarchive-cool-gray-nocturne-rgb: rgb(48, 51, 54);
}

AI Color Names

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

Color Origins

Neutral family

Not a color, but the canvas every color lives on.

Heritage

Bone black, lamp black, and ivory black are the classical pigment lineage of black, with Mars black a 20th-century addition; lead white (now heavily restricted), zinc white, and titanium white are the whites; and every gray sits between them. Charcoal and graphite extend the lineage. Painters historically mixed their warm and cool grays rather than taking them from a tube — Vermeer tinted grays of lead white, black, and umber with ultramarine. Scandinavian and Japanese design traditions have refined the use of pure neutrals to the point of philosophy.

Across cultures

In Western culture black is mourning (since the Roman Empire), formal (since late-medieval European courts), and rebellious (since 20th-century counterculture). In China and much of East Asia white is the traditional funeral color, though Japan has worn black since the Meiji era. Black-and-white photography defined visual journalism for a century. Concrete gray, since Brutalism, has come to read as both serious-civic and dystopian, depending on context. Scandinavian interiors often lean on the calibration of warm vs cool grays.

In the wild

Apple's restraint is essentially a religion of neutrals — white packaging and, since it dropped the rainbow logo in 1999, a single-color Apple mark. Chanel built a fashion empire on black-and-white. Muji's identity is the absence of identity — the name means 'no-brand quality goods', and its color range is deliberately limited. Vercel, Linear, GitHub, and many modern developer tools dial the saturation way down to make their content shine. The film noir aesthetic and modern minimalist branding both converge on neutrals.

How it reads

Pure neutrals (true gray) are eye-rest colors — they carry no hue of their own. Warm neutrals (taupe, warm gray) read as inviting, hospitality-friendly, soft. Cool neutrals (cool gray, slate) read as technical, premium, slightly distant. Off-whites and creams are heritage-luxury colors; near-blacks (charcoal, ink) read as serious without the harshness of pure black. Designers often choose a slightly warm or slightly cool neutral over true gray because it feels more deliberate and human.

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 #303336.

  • Xiaohongshu 小红书neutral
    Slate Text · #333333
    →
  • JD.com 京东neutral
    Slate · #333333
    →
  • Taobao 淘宝neutral
    Slate · #333333
    →

Cultures using a similar color

From the cultural-palette catalog, these regions feature a color close to #303336.

  • BrazilAçaí Purple
    #3D1F4D · Euterpe oleracea berry
    →
  • Korea (Obangsaek)Obangsaek Black (흑 / heuk)
    #1F1F1F · North — water element, ink and lacquer
    →
  • JapanIndigo (ai-iro 藍色)
    #22366E · Persicaria tinctoria fermentation dye
    →

Color guides

Go deeper on using color in design.

Brand & MarketingLuxury Neutral Color Palette Ideas Without Defaulting to Black and WhiteBrand & MarketingMinimalist Color Palette: How to Do More With LessDesign PrinciplesNegative Space in Color Design: The Power of Restraint

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
Cool Gray Shadow
#43474C · hsl(210, 6%, 28%)
Darker companion
Cool Gray Ink
#222426 · hsl(210, 6%, 14%)
Complementary counterpoint
Warm Gray Nocturne
#363330 · hsl(30, 6%, 20%)
Analogous lead
Indigo Nocturne Faint
#2E3038 · hsl(230, 10%, 20%)
Analogous echo
Cerulean Nocturne Faint
#2E3638 · hsl(190, 10%, 20%)
Triadic +120°
Blush Nocturne Faint
#382E33 · hsl(330, 10%, 20%)
Triadic +240°
Lime Nocturne Faint
#33382E · hsl(90, 10%, 20%)
Split-comp +150°
Crimson Nocturne Faint
#382E2E · hsl(0, 10%, 20%)
Split-comp +210°
Citrine Nocturne Faint
#38382E · hsl(60, 10%, 20%)
Export preview
Base: Cool Gray Nocturne #303336
Lighter companion: Cool Gray Shadow #43474C
Darker companion: Cool Gray Ink #222426
Complementary counterpoint: Warm Gray Nocturne #363330
Analogous lead: Indigo Nocturne Faint #2E3038
Analogous echo: Cerulean Nocturne Faint #2E3638
Triadic +120°: Blush Nocturne Faint #382E33
Triadic +240°: Lime Nocturne Faint #33382E
Split-comp +150°: Crimson Nocturne Faint #382E2E
Split-comp +210°: Citrine Nocturne Faint #38382E

Compare

See how Cool Gray Nocturne compares side by side with related colors.

vsCool Gray ShadowvsCool Gray InkvsWarm Gray NocturnevsIndigo Nocturne FaintvsCerulean Nocturne FaintvsBlush Nocturne Faint

Nearest neighbors

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

Search by hex
Nearby match
Sapphire Nocturne Faint
#2E3338 · hsl(210, 10%, 20%)
Nearby match
Cool Gray Ink
#222426 · hsl(210, 6%, 14%)
Nearby match
Sapphire Nocturne Muted
#2A333C · hsl(210, 18%, 20%)
Nearby match
Cool Gray Shadow
#43474C · hsl(210, 6%, 28%)
Nearby match
Sapphire Ink Faint
#202427 · hsl(210, 10%, 14%)
Nearby match
Steel Nocturne Faint
#2E3438 · hsl(205, 10%, 20%)

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
AAA12.2:1
Coral Veil Faint
#FAFAF9
AAA12.2:1
Coral Veil Muted
#FBFAF9
AAA12.2:1
Coral Veil Dust
#FBFAF9
AAA12.2:1
Coral Veil Soft
#FCFAF8
AAA12.2:1
Coral Veil Clear
#FDFAF7
AAA12.2:1
Coral Veil Vivid
#FEFAF6

Color Vision Simulation

How this color appears with different color vision deficiencies.

Full simulator
Deuteranopia
#313135
Protanopia
#313135
Tritanopia
#303535
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Saturation ladder

Same hue and lightness, from gray to pure

Search
Cool Gray Nocturne#303336 · hsl(210, 6%, 20%)Sapphire Nocturne Faint#2E3338 · hsl(210, 10%, 20%)Sapphire Nocturne Muted#2A333C · hsl(210, 18%, 20%)Sapphire Nocturne Dust#263340 · hsl(210, 26%, 20%)Sapphire Nocturne Soft#223344 · hsl(210, 34%, 20%)Sapphire Nocturne Clear#17334F · hsl(210, 54%, 20%)Sapphire Nocturne Vivid#0D3359 · hsl(210, 74%, 20%)Sapphire Nocturne Bright#08335E · hsl(210, 84%, 20%)Sapphire Nocturne Pure#043362 · hsl(210, 92%, 20%)
Appears in collections
Editorial Black, White & RedMidnight Jewel Tones2026 Midnight PlumCinematic Neon NoirIndustrial Loft