Eigengrau
#16161d
Neutral near-black gray with subdued warmth for contrast
About Eigengrau
On a dark canvas, Eigengrau reads like a quiet film of shadow on matte metal. It's not close to black like Back in Black, and it doesn't feel like freshly filled ink like Inkwell Inception. Instead, you notice it as a slightly lighter, steadier gray that holds its neutrality without going so cold that it turns smoky.
Compared with Anthracite, this one won't lean warmer and a little brown. It stays more even-tempered and restrained, with just enough lightness to keep dense UI panels from collapsing. I end up using it for editor surfaces, IDE themes, and dark controls in video post pipelines where you need hierarchy that feels calm under long sessions. It also works well for dashboards that show lots of charts but can't afford a background that feels like a void.
If you pair it, I'd keep text and borders on a touch lighter than you think, because this shade absorbs attention more than it grabs it.
Code snippets
Copy this color into your project.
Contrast checker
WCAG 2.1 contrast ratios. AA requires 4.5:1 for normal text, 3:1 for large. AAA requires 7:1 / 4.5:1.
On White #ffffff
On Gray 100 #f5f5f5
On Gray 900 #18181b
On Black #000000
Variations
Shades
Darker variations, created by mixing toward black.
Tints
Lighter variations, created by mixing toward white.
Tones
Muted variations, created by reducing saturation.
Hues
Hue rotations around the color wheel.
Temperatures
Warm and cool shifts of this color.
Color harmonies
Suggested palettes
Palettes built around this color.
Community palettes
Published palettes that include this color.
