#8EB8C8
#C8D8E8
#E8C878
#1E3A4A
Background
Primary Accent
Secondary
Body Text

City Island Color Palette

#8EB8C8 · #C8D8E8 · #E8C878 · #1E3A4A

AA
WCAG Grade
5.6:1
Contrast Ratio
870
Saves
2,300
AI Copies
AI Prompt

Use #8EB8C8 as the background. Use #C8D8E8 as the primary accent. Use #E8C878 as secondary. Use #1E3A4A as body text/supporting color. Palette mood: City Island — seaside, village, nautical.

Hex Codes, RGB & CMYK Color Values

Technical breakdown for the City Island color scheme. Use these values for web design (HEX/RGB), print projects (CMYK), or specialized design software (HSL).

Swatch Design Role HEX RGB CMYK HSL
Background
Luminance: 44.2%
142, 184, 200 29%, 8%, 0%, 22% 197°, 35%, 67%
Primary Accent
Luminance: 67.2%
200, 216, 232 14%, 7%, 0%, 9% 210°, 41%, 85%
Secondary
Luminance: 59.8%
232, 200, 120 0%, 14%, 48%, 9% 43°, 71%, 69%
Body Text
Luminance: 3.8%
30, 58, 74 59%, 22%, 0%, 71% 202°, 42%, 20%

City Island Tints & Shades

Hover states, borders and elevation need lighter and darker steps of your base colors. Here are computed tints and shades for every color in the City Island palette — click any swatch to copy its hex.

#8EB8C8 gently saturated cyan-blue
#C8D8E8 gently saturated cyan-blue
#E8C878 saturated orange
#1E3A4A gently saturated cyan-blue

City Island Palette Contrast Matrix (WCAG 2.1)

Every color tested as text on every other color as background. Body copy needs 4.5:1 (AA), large text and UI components 3:1. AAA requires 7:1.

Text on Background Preview Ratio Grade Safe For
#1E3A4A on #C8D8E8
Aa Sample Text
8.21:1 AAA Body text, headings, UI
#C8D8E8 on #1E3A4A
Aa Sample Text
8.21:1 AAA Body text, headings, UI
#1E3A4A on #E8C878
Aa Sample Text
7.37:1 AAA Body text, headings, UI
#E8C878 on #1E3A4A
Aa Sample Text
7.37:1 AAA Body text, headings, UI
#1E3A4A on #8EB8C8
Aa Sample Text
5.59:1 AA Body text, UI
#8EB8C8 on #1E3A4A
Aa Sample Text
5.59:1 AA Body text, UI
#C8D8E8 on #8EB8C8
Aa Sample Text
1.47:1 Fail Decorative use only
#8EB8C8 on #C8D8E8
Aa Sample Text
1.47:1 Fail Decorative use only
#E8C878 on #8EB8C8
Aa Sample Text
1.32:1 Fail Decorative use only
#8EB8C8 on #E8C878
Aa Sample Text
1.32:1 Fail Decorative use only
#E8C878 on #C8D8E8
Aa Sample Text
1.11:1 Fail Decorative use only
#C8D8E8 on #E8C878
Aa Sample Text
1.11:1 Fail Decorative use only

City Island Color Psychology & Meaning

City Island is the fishing village at the Bronx edge of Long Island Sound with clapboard houses and seafood shacks, and this palette is its harbor blue with sandy yellow. It feels salty and friendly, the color of a small boat town inside the big city.

Color Harmony: Split-Complementary Scheme

The City Island palette is built using a split-complementary relationship between its hues. This ensures that even with high-contrast accents, the overall scheme feels balanced and intentional.

Hue Wheel

A split-complementary palette is often preferred by professional designers because it balances visual interest with cohesion.

History & Design Context

Settled as a shipbuilding and oystering village in the 19th century, City Island remains a tight community of marinas, yacht clubs, and seafood restaurants, connected to the Bronx by a single bridge since 1873.

Best Design Use Cases

Use the harbor blue for water and hero surfaces, pale sky for accents, sandy yellow for clapboard, and deep navy for text.

Industries This Palette Suits

Seafood, marinas, boating, tourism, hospitality.

Colors That Pair Well With City Island

Need a fifth color? These three companions are computed from the palette's own hue positions on the color wheel, so they extend the scheme without breaking its harmony.

orange

directly opposite #C8D8E8 on the wheel — the strongest accent for CTAs and highlights when you need maximum energy

blue

30° beside #C8D8E8 — a calm secondary that extends the palette without adding tension

tinted neutral

a ink-black carrying the palette's own hue — perfect for surfaces and dividers

Using City Island Without Breaking Accessibility

  • Avoid #C8D8E8 for small UI elements on #8EB8C8 — at 1.5:1 it misses the 3:1 WCAG threshold; darken it with a shade from the ramp below.
  • Set body text in #1E3A4A — 5.6:1 against #8EB8C8 passes WCAG AA (AA) for long-form reading.
  • Don't use #E8C878 behind body text — this light tone works better for surfaces, badges and dividers than for reading areas.

How to Implement the City Island Color Scheme

To use this City Island color palette in your web project, you can copy the following CSS variables or Tailwind CSS configuration. These roles ensure your UI maintains accessibility and visual hierarchy.

Option 1: CSS Variables

:root { 
  /* {name} Palette - ihatecolors.com */{'
'}  --color-bg: {colors[0]};{'
'}  --color-primary: {colors[1]};{'
'}  --color-secondary: {colors[2]};{'
'}  --color-text: {colors[3]};{'
'} {'}'}

Web Design Tip

Use #8EB8C8 for the main background and #C8D8E8 for primary buttons. This creates a high-contrast focal point.

Accessibility Note

The contrast ratio between #1E3A4A and #8EB8C8 is 5.59:1 (AA). Ensure your body text remains legible.

City Island Palette — Frequently Asked Questions

What are the hex codes in the City Island color palette?

The City Island palette contains #8EB8C8, #C8D8E8, #E8C878, #1E3A4A. Click any swatch on this page to copy its value, or export all four at once as CSS variables, Tailwind config, SCSS or a Figma-ready list.

Is the City Island color palette accessible (WCAG)?

Yes for its strongest pairings: #1E3A4A on #C8D8E8 reaches 8.2:1 (AAA). For body text always keep a 4.5:1 ratio and for large UI elements 3:1 — the full contrast matrix above shows the exact score for every color-on-color combination in this palette.

What colors go well with the City Island palette?

Beyond its own four colors, #D2B393, #CDCDE5, #131516 extend it naturally: the complementary hue for high-energy accents, an analogous neighbor for calm transitions, and a tinted neutral for surfaces. All three are computed from this palette's hues on the color wheel.

What mood does the City Island palette create?

City Island reads as seaside, village, nautical. Gently saturated cyan-blue drives the personality, grounded by gently saturated cyan-blue — a combination that works best when the light base gets most of the canvas.

Can I use the City Island color palette commercially?

Yes. Individual color values can't be copyrighted, so the City Island palette is free for personal, client and commercial work — websites, branding, apps, print and social content, with no attribution required.

How do I add the City Island palette to Tailwind or CSS?

Use the export panel on this page: CSS variables, a Tailwind config block, SCSS variables, or a Figma copy list are generated from City Island's exact values, including the tint and shade ramps shown above.

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