Lead
Online color picker to view shades, tints, color codes, and complementary colors
Lead is a dark, neutral shade that brings stability and calm to any design. This moody color offers a sense of depth and professionalism for interfaces or architecture. Use it to build contrast or clean, minimal layouts. The hex code for Lead is #212121. Does this deep, stable grey fit your next project?
About Lead
Pencil graphite rubbed deep into the paper
What does lead mean?
Lead often brings to mind metal, overcast skies, and the flat dullness of pencil marks on paper. It sits almost at black, with no color in it, so it reads as heavy, still, and dim.
Where you see lead
- cast iron pans
- graphite pencil marks
- storm clouds
- fresh asphalt
- old pewter
- charcoal briquettes
What it works for
Use it as a dark background or text color when pure black feels too harsh on the screen.
What colors go with lead?
Saffron #f4c430The bright yellow-orange cuts through the dark gray and keeps the whole palette awake.Bone #e0d7c6A warm off-white gives the near-black a clean edge without stark contrast.Dusty Rose #b56f76The soft pink warms up the cold neutral and keeps it from feeling flat.Sage #9caf88The muted green sits at a similar dullness, so both colors stay calm together.Brass #b5a642Metallic yellow-brown against dark gray reads like hardware on a tool.Cornflower Blue #6c91c5The mid blue lightens the heavy dark and adds a clear cool note.
Questions about Lead
What is the hex code for Lead?
Lead is #212121. In RGB that is rgb(33, 33, 33), in HSL hsl(0, 0%, 13%) and in CMYK 0%, 0%, 0%, 87%.
Is Lead readable on white or black?
Lead has a 16.10:1 contrast ratio on white and 1.30:1 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.