Midnight #03012D

Midnight (#03012D) is a very dark, soft blue with an OKLCH hue of 271°, lightness 0.14 and chroma 0.088. It sits on the cool side of the color wheel. In practice it behaves as a grounding tone — suited to text, outlines, and shadowed surfaces.

Color values

HEX#03012D
RGBrgb(3, 1, 45)
HSLhsl(243, 96%, 9%)
HSVhsv(243, 98%, 18%)
CMYKcmyk(93%, 98%, 0%, 82%)
CIE Lablab(2.1 12.4 -25.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.142 0.088 271)

How Midnight behaves under real light

Under warm 2700K interior light Midnight shifts subtly: leans toward purple; in north-facing or shaded light it is virtually unchanged. Overall drift across common illuminants is small (max ΔE ≈ 0.8), so it is a lighting-stable choice.

Contrast & accessibility

Against white it measures 20.07:1 and against black 1.05:1, so white text is the stronger pairing. That pairing passes WCAG AA for body text. Avoid black text on this color entirely.

Palettes built from Midnight

Tonal

One color explored: close hues with real lightness and chroma structure, so the palette is the anchor through value rather than a set of colors.

#8f99b7 · #687396 · #445076 · #232e57 · #03012d · #010011

Analogous

The anchor's neighbours on the wheel — everything shares an undertone, so the chord carries color without anything having to be muted to get along.

#165f5c · #004d55 · #003a4a · #00283e · #001536 · #03012d

Shifted

The mid-gap pairing — sage and mustard, terracotta and olive. A foil rotated 40–65° toward warm or cool: too far to be kin, too near to argue, carried by temperature and a deliberate value offset.

#9b839e · #606d99 · #6a416f · #2a355f · #2a182c · #03012d

Contrast

One deliberately opposed voice — a single restrained counterpoint across the wheel, or temperature against temperature where the anchor is too muted to carry a loud opposite.

#dac281 · #747a8e · #525a75 · #343c57 · #1d222f · #03012d

Quiet Support

The anchor as the only color in the room. True neutrals or complement-warmed near-neutrals let it stay dominant.

#f5f2e9 · #b2b6c2 · #817f79 · #474b57 · #201d16 · #03012d

Bright Accent

This color as a ground rather than a subject — its own restraint held across a narrow value band, carrying one saturated voice from the opposite temperature.

#f5f2e7 · #cfcbbf · #a5a092 · #302a1a · #0f0900 · #03012d

Complementary

The opposite hue on the perceptual wheel, tempered to field strength — warm/cool tension without vibration.

#f8f2de · #c8b683 · #937d3d · #5b4912 · #161c32 · #03012d

Split-complementary

The complement's two neighbours instead of the complement itself — strong contrast with a lower clash risk.

#f8f2de · #d9ad89 · #778749 · #69411d · #1a2007 · #03012d

Triadic

Three hues spaced evenly around the wheel; the anchor leads and the other two are held at supporting strength.

#ffedea · #e0a79c · #568e64 · #2a5736 · #2f1510 · #03012d

Tetradic

Two complementary pairs offset by 90° — the richest chord, kept usable by a strict lightness hierarchy.

#ffecf1 · #dea4b4 · #937d3d · #00584e · #251c02 · #03012d

Tints, shades & muted variants

Tints

#1B254F · #3F4A71 · #677295 · #929CBA · #BFC7E0

Shades

#03022A · #030327 · #030424 · #030420 · #03051D

Muted

#030426 · #04071E · #050817

Using Midnight

As a deep tone it works for grounding elements — text, outlines, and shadowed surfaces — rather than open fields. In palettes it pairs most predictably with its tonal ramp and analogous neighbors; reserve the complementary hue for small, deliberate contrast.

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