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Ember Ink Dust
Color detail

Ember Ink Dust

Orange · Hue 20
Metrics
S 26% · L 14%
Contrast (WCAG)
on white15.6:1AAon black1.3:1Fail
Save to journalSign in to saveStart palette from thisRecent trail

About this color

Ember Ink Dust (#2D211A) belongs to the orange family — hue 20°, 26% saturation, 14% 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-ember-ink-dust: #2D211A;
  --colorarchive-ember-ink-dust-hsl: hsl(20, 26%, 14%);
  --colorarchive-ember-ink-dust-rgb: rgb(45, 33, 26);
}

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 #2D211A.

  • Netflixneutral
    Netflix Black · #221F1F
    →
  • Meituan 美团neutral
    Slate Black · #222222
    →
  • Supabaseneutral
    Background Black · #1F1F1F
    →

Cultures using a similar color

From the cultural-palette catalog, these regions feature a color close to #2D211A.

  • Korea (Obangsaek)Obangsaek Black (흑 / heuk)
    #1F1F1F · North — water element, ink and lacquer
    →
  • MexicoVolcanic Black
    #1F1A17 · Obsidian + Popocatépetl basalt
    →
  • China (Traditional)Ink Wash Black (墨)
    #1C1C1C · Pine-soot ink stick (mò)
    →

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 NeutralsUI DesignBuilding a Dark Mode Color Palette: Beyond Inverting Light Mode

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
Ember Nocturne Dust
#402F26 · hsl(20, 26%, 20%)
Complementary counterpoint
Azure Ink Dust
#1A272D · hsl(200, 26%, 14%)
Analogous lead
Saffron Ink Dust
#2D281A · hsl(45, 26%, 14%)
Analogous echo
Crimson Ink Dust
#2D1A1A · hsl(0, 26%, 14%)
Triadic +120°
Seafoam Ink Dust
#1A2D21 · hsl(140, 26%, 14%)
Triadic +240°
Orchid Ink Dust
#211A2D · hsl(260, 26%, 14%)
Split-comp +150°
Lagoon Ink Dust
#1A2D2A · hsl(170, 26%, 14%)
Split-comp +210°
Indigo Ink Dust
#1A1E2D · hsl(230, 26%, 14%)
Export preview
Base: Ember Ink Dust #2D211A
Lighter companion: Ember Nocturne Dust #402F26
Complementary counterpoint: Azure Ink Dust #1A272D
Analogous lead: Saffron Ink Dust #2D281A
Analogous echo: Crimson Ink Dust #2D1A1A
Triadic +120°: Seafoam Ink Dust #1A2D21
Triadic +240°: Orchid Ink Dust #211A2D
Split-comp +150°: Lagoon Ink Dust #1A2D2A
Split-comp +210°: Indigo Ink Dust #1A1E2D

Compare

See how Ember Ink Dust compares side by side with related colors.

vsEmber Nocturne DustvsAzure Ink DustvsSaffron Ink DustvsCrimson Ink DustvsSeafoam Ink DustvsOrchid Ink Dust

Nearest neighbors

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

Search by hex
Nearby match
Ember Ink Muted
#2A221D · hsl(20, 18%, 14%)
Nearby match
Ember Ink Soft
#302018 · hsl(20, 34%, 14%)
Nearby match
Ember Nocturne Dust
#402F26 · hsl(20, 26%, 20%)
Nearby match
Vermillion Ink Dust
#2D1F1A · hsl(15, 26%, 14%)
Nearby match
Tangerine Ink Dust
#2D221A · hsl(25, 26%, 14%)
Nearby match
Ember Ink Faint
#272320 · hsl(20, 10%, 14%)

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
AAA14.9:1
Azure Veil Faint
#F9FAFA
AAA15:1
Azure Veil Muted
#F9FAFB
AAA15:1
Azure Veil Dust
#F9FAFB
AAA14.9:1
Azure Veil Soft
#F8FAFC
AAA15:1
Azure Veil Clear
#F7FBFD
AAA15:1
Azure Veil Vivid
#F6FBFE

Color Vision Simulation

How this color appears with different color vision deficiencies.

Full simulator
Deuteranopia
#292A1C
Protanopia
#28281C
Tritanopia
#2C1D1E
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Saturation ladder

Same hue and lightness, from gray to pure

Search
Ember Ink Faint#272320 · hsl(20, 10%, 14%)Ember Ink Muted#2A221D · hsl(20, 18%, 14%)Ember Ink Dust#2D211A · hsl(20, 26%, 14%)Ember Ink Soft#302018 · hsl(20, 34%, 14%)Ember Ink Clear#371D10 · hsl(20, 54%, 14%)Ember Ink Vivid#3E1B09 · hsl(20, 74%, 14%)Ember Ink Bright#421A06 · hsl(20, 84%, 14%)Ember Ink Pure#451903 · hsl(20, 92%, 14%)
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