Concrete Gray

The unadorned natural color of cement, a declaration of rough, authentic industrial aesthetics.

HEX#81847F
RGBrgb(129, 132, 127)
HSLhsl(96, 2%, 51%)
HSVhsv(96, 4%, 52%)
CMYKcmyk(2%, 0%, 4%, 48%)
HEXA#81847FFF
RGBArgba(129, 132, 127, 1)
HSLAhsla(96, 2%, 51%, 1)
OKLCHoklch(80%, 0.005, 132)
LCHlch(76.9%, 8.6, 202)

🎨 Color Palettes

Analogous2-3 adjacent hues (≤60°)
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#848580
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#81847F
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#808580
Triadic3 hues spaced 120° apart
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#81847F
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#808285
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#858082
Split ComplementaryMain color + colors adjacent to its complement
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#81847F
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#808085
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#858084
Complementary2 hues spaced 180° apart
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#81847F
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#838085
Tetradic (Rectangle)4 hues forming a rectangle
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#81847F
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#808485
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#838085
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#858080
MonochromaticSingle hue with varying saturation and lightness
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#1C1D1B
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#4F514D
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#81847F
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#B5B7B4
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#E8E9E8

♿ WCAG Contrast Colors

Learn More →
Aa14px Body
High Contrast Text
#FFFFFFRatio 3.8:1AA Large
Suitable for body text, headings, and primary content, ensuring readability for all users
Aa14px Body
Standard Text
#FFFFFFRatio 3.8:1AA Large
Suitable for regular body content, meeting WCAG AA standards
Aa14px Body
Large Text / UI Components
#E2E4E3Ratio 3:1AA Large
Suitable for large text (≥18px bold or ≥24px), icons, UI component boundaries
Aa14px Body
Decorative / Dividers
#B9BABCRatio 2:1Fail
Suitable for decorative elements, dividers, non-essential text
Lightness VariationFixed hue and saturation, proportional lightness scaling 30%→100%
#262725Copy
#353734Copy
#454643Copy
#545652Copy
#636561Copy
#727570Copy
#828580Copy
Saturation VariationFixed hue and lightness, proportional saturation scaling 40%→100%
#828381Copy
#828381Copy
#828381Copy
#828381Copy
#828580Copy
#828580Copy
#828580Copy
Lightness + Saturation Mixed VariationSimultaneous lightness and saturation proportional scaling
#262726Copy
#353635Copy
#454644Copy
#545553Copy
#636561Copy
#727570Copy
#828580Copy
Hue Fine-TuningFixed saturation and lightness, stepwise hue fine-tuning ±15°
#838580Copy
#828580Copy
#828580Copy
#828580Copy
#818580Copy
#818580Copy
#808580Copy

💡 Use Cases

🏛️

Fair-Faced Concrete

Tadao Ando-style architectural walls, interpreting Zen spatial aesthetics with an extremely smooth gray surface.

💻

Productivity Tools

The sidebar background color of efficiency software like Notion and Linear, creating a focused work atmosphere.

🏠

Industrial-Style Homes

Exposed concrete ceilings and walls, paired with metal and leather furniture to create a rugged yet cozy dwelling.

🪴

Planters & Vessels

Concrete Gray flower pots paired with succulents, where the rough texture forms a poetic contrast with vibrant life.

📜 Origin & History

The history of Concrete Gray can be traced back to ancient Rome. The dome of the Pantheon was cast from Roman concrete, its unadorned gray surface still intact after two thousand years, proving the natural connection between Concrete Gray and eternal architecture.

The birth of modern concrete is credited to Joseph Aspdin, an Englishman who invented Portland cement in 1824. This gray powder, ground after being sintered at high temperatures, hardened when mixed with water; its standard gray tone became the visual hallmark of the Industrial Revolution's architectural wave.

In the 1950s, Japanese architect Tadao Ando elevated Concrete Gray into an artistic language. His designs for the Azuma House and the Church of the Light challenged traditional aesthetics with extremely smooth, fair-faced concrete gray walls, imbuing the rough industrial material with a Zen-like quality.

In contemporary UI design, Concrete Gray is widely used for the interface color schemes of productivity tools. Applications like Notion and Linear use Concrete Gray as their sidebar background color, creating a focused yet warm working atmosphere.

🧠 Color Psychology

RoughThe unadorned natural color of cement retains traces of construction, presenting the material itself with an honest attitude.
SolidThe physical strength of concrete translates into a psychological sense of reliability and security.
ZenTadao Ando's fair-faced concrete aesthetic proves that even the simplest gray can reach spiritual clarity.
InclusiveLike the concrete buildings that accommodate everything in a city, its chromatic understatement empowers great functionality.
PragmaticA purely functional color stripped of all decoration, embodying the pursuit of essence over appearance.
ContemporaryThe foundational color of the modern city, the ubiquitous backdrop of contemporary life from architecture to interfaces.