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Warm Gray Ink
Color detail

Warm Gray Ink

Neutral gray · Hue 30
Metrics
S 6% · L 14%
Contrast (WCAG)
on white15.5:1AAon black1.4:1Fail
Save to journalSign in to saveStart palette from thisRecent trail

About this color

Warm Gray Ink (#262422) belongs to the neutral grays — hue 30°, 6% 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-warm-gray-ink: #262422;
  --colorarchive-warm-gray-ink-hsl: hsl(30, 6%, 14%);
  --colorarchive-warm-gray-ink-rgb: rgb(38, 36, 34);
}

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 #262422.

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

Cultures using a similar color

From the cultural-palette catalog, these regions feature a color close to #262422.

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

Color guides

Go deeper on using color in design.

Interface SystemsNeutral Color Palette: Building Systems That Let Other Colors BreatheBrand & MarketingLuxury Neutral Color Palette Ideas Without Defaulting to Black and WhiteBrand & MarketingMinimalist Color Palette: How to Do More With Less

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
Warm Gray Nocturne
#363330 · hsl(30, 6%, 20%)
Complementary counterpoint
Cool Gray Ink
#222426 · hsl(210, 6%, 14%)
Analogous lead
Canary Ink Faint
#272720 · hsl(55, 10%, 14%)
Analogous echo
Scarlet Ink Faint
#272120 · hsl(5, 10%, 14%)
Triadic +120°
Sage Gray Ink
#222524 · hsl(150, 5%, 14%)
Triadic +240°
Plum Ink Faint
#242027 · hsl(270, 10%, 14%)
Split-comp +150°
Aqua Ink Faint
#202727 · hsl(180, 10%, 14%)
Split-comp +210°
Iris Ink Faint
#202027 · hsl(240, 10%, 14%)
Export preview
Base: Warm Gray Ink #262422
Lighter companion: Warm Gray Nocturne #363330
Complementary counterpoint: Cool Gray Ink #222426
Analogous lead: Canary Ink Faint #272720
Analogous echo: Scarlet Ink Faint #272120
Triadic +120°: Sage Gray Ink #222524
Triadic +240°: Plum Ink Faint #242027
Split-comp +150°: Aqua Ink Faint #202727
Split-comp +210°: Iris Ink Faint #202027

Compare

See how Warm Gray Ink compares side by side with related colors.

vsWarm Gray NocturnevsCool Gray InkvsCanary Ink FaintvsScarlet Ink FaintvsSage Gray InkvsPlum Ink Faint

Nearest neighbors

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

Search by hex
Nearby match
Coral Ink Faint
#272420 · hsl(30, 10%, 14%)
Nearby match
Warm Gray Nocturne
#363330 · hsl(30, 6%, 20%)
Nearby match
Coral Ink Muted
#2A241D · hsl(30, 18%, 14%)
Nearby match
Coral Nocturne Faint
#38332E · hsl(30, 10%, 20%)
Nearby match
Tangerine Ink Faint
#272320 · hsl(25, 10%, 14%)
Nearby match
Coral Ink Dust
#2D241A · hsl(30, 26%, 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
AAA14.8:1
Sapphire Veil Faint
#F9FAFA
AAA14.8:1
Sapphire Veil Muted
#F9FAFB
AAA14.8:1
Sapphire Veil Dust
#F9FAFB
AAA14.8:1
Sapphire Veil Soft
#F8FAFC
AAA14.8:1
Sapphire Veil Clear
#F7FAFD
AAA14.7:1
Sapphire Veil Vivid
#F6FAFE

Color Vision Simulation

How this color appears with different color vision deficiencies.

Full simulator
Deuteranopia
#252523
Protanopia
#252522
Tritanopia
#262323
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Saturation ladder

Same hue and lightness, from gray to pure

Search
Warm Gray Ink#262422 · hsl(30, 6%, 14%)Coral Ink Faint#272420 · hsl(30, 10%, 14%)Coral Ink Muted#2A241D · hsl(30, 18%, 14%)Coral Ink Dust#2D241A · hsl(30, 26%, 14%)Coral Ink Soft#302418 · hsl(30, 34%, 14%)Coral Ink Clear#372410 · hsl(30, 54%, 14%)Coral Ink Vivid#3E2409 · hsl(30, 74%, 14%)Coral Ink Bright#422406 · hsl(30, 84%, 14%)Coral Ink Pure#452403 · hsl(30, 92%, 14%)
Appears in collections
Art Deco Gold & BlackMinimal Japanese