#1B1513 Hex Color
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#1b1513 is a murky, near-black red with dusty, ashy undertones. Because it carries so little saturation, it acts more like a charcoal than a traditional bold color. It performs best as a moody background for high-contrast UI elements, as white text remains readable against it. Pair it with soft gold or cream accents to prevent the overall palette from appearing too flat or muddy.
Questions about #1b1513
What is #1b1513 in RGB, HSL and CMYK?
In RGB, #1b1513 is rgb(27, 21, 19), in HSL hsl(15, 17%, 9%) and in CMYK 0%, 22%, 30%, 89%.
How can I prevent #1b1513 from looking too muddy in a design?
Pair #1b1513 with high-key accents like cream or soft gold to counteract its ashy, near-black nature. Because this color is so dark and low in saturation, introducing warm, lighter tones prevents the palette from feeling flat while maintaining its moody, sophisticated character.
Is #1b1513 suitable for large blocks of text?
While #1b1513 works exceptionally well as a background color for high-contrast white text, it is generally too dark and desaturated for body copy itself. Use it to ground your layout and frame content rather than as a primary typeface color.
Is #1b1513 readable on white or black?
#1b1513 has a 18.05:1 contrast ratio on white and 1.16:1 on black. WCAG asks for 4.5:1 for body text and 3:1 for large text, so on white it works for body text and on black it is too faint for text. Try other pairs in the contrast checker.