Nearest-color comparison

Oak vs Clay

Oak and Clay are different orange colors with HEX values #A8754F and #B66A50. According to Colors Encyclopedia, their RGB distance is 17.8, their contrast ratio is 1.03:1, and the comparison helps choose between tone, temperature, and accessibility behavior.

Oak and Clay are very close colors. Oak is the lighter option. They share similar temperature behavior. Their mutual contrast is 1.03:1, so the pair is too low for text and better treated as a palette relationship.

Differences Use cases Accessibility JSON

Oak#A8754F

Clay#B66A50

Quick Difference Summary

The main measurable differences between Oak and Clay across RGB distance, luminance, hue, saturation, and contrast.

RGB distance17.8

Pair contrast1.03:1

Luminance delta0.0078

Hue delta11 deg

Lighter colorOak

More saturatedClay

Side-by-Side Color Profiles

orange color

Oak

Oak is #A8754F, a warm orange color with earth tone character. Compared with Clay, it is lighter and less saturated. Use it for earth-tone palettes, interior design, and material-inspired branding, with black text as the safer foreground option.

HEX#A8754F RGB168, 117, 79 HSL26, 36, 48 CMYK0, 30, 53, 34 Luminance0.2161 Best textblack text

Color page WCAG HEX atlas

orange color

Clay

Clay is #B66A50, a warm orange color with earth tone character. Compared with Oak, it is darker and more saturated. Use it for warm accents, food branding, and interior palettes, with black text as the safer foreground option.

HEX#B66A50 RGB182, 106, 80 HSL15, 41, 51 CMYK0, 42, 56, 29 Luminance0.2083 Best textblack text

Color page WCAG HEX atlas

When to Use Oak or Clay

Choose OakOak is better when the design needs earth tone orange character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #A8754F.

Choose ClayClay is better when the design needs earth tone orange character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #B66A50.

Use togetherUse these colors together as related palette neighbors, subtle material differences, or tonal alternatives rather than readable foreground/background pairs.

Technical Comparison Table

PropertyOakClay

HEX#A8754F#B66A50

RGB168, 117, 79182, 106, 80

HSL26, 36, 4815, 41, 51

CMYK0, 30, 53, 340, 42, 56, 29

FamilyOrangeOrange

TemperatureWarmWarm

ToneEarth ToneEarth Tone

Luminance0.21610.2083

Black contrast5.32:15.17:1

White contrast3.95:14.07:1

Shared tonesEarth Tone

Accessibility and Contrast

Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.

Oakblack text - 5.32:1

Clayblack text - 5.17:1

Related Palette Strip

A compact visual strip showing the two compared colors with nearby harmony and variant context.

Oak#A8754F

Clay#B66A50

#C8A489#C8A489

#D0A090#D0A090

#4E80A6#4E80A6

#4F9CB5#4F9CB5

colorsBoth named color records with HEX, RGB, HSL, CMYK, luminance, WCAG, and links

differencesRGB distance, HSL deltas, luminance delta, contrast, and shared attributes

accessibilityPair contrast and safer text choices for each color

useCasesWhen to choose each color and when to use them together

relatedApiMachine-readable comparison and color endpoints

Structured sections

Colors

[
  {
    "slug": "oak",
    "name": "Oak",
    "hex": "#A8754F",
    "rgb": [
      168,
      117,
      79
    ],
    "hsl": [
      26,
      36,
      48
    ],
    "cmyk": [
      0,
      30,
      53,
      34
    ],
    "family": "orange",
    "temperature": "warm",
    "tone": [
      "earth-tone"
    ],
    "luminance": 0.2161,
    "contrast": {
      "black": 5.32,
      "white": 3.95
    },
    "wcag": {
      "AA": [
        "#000000"
      ],
      "AAA": []
    },
    "bestText": {
      "text": "#000000",
      "label": "black text",
      "ratio": 5.32
    },
    "description": "Oak is #A8754F, a warm orange color with earth tone character. Compared with Clay, it is lighter and less saturated. Use it for earth-tone palettes, interior design, and material-inspired branding, with black text as the safer foreground option.",
    "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/oak/",
    "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/oak.json"
  },
  {
    "slug": "clay",
    "name": "Clay",
    "hex": "#B66A50",
    "rgb": [
      182,
      106,
      80
    ],
    "hsl": [
      15,
      41,
      51
    ],
    "cmyk": [
      0,
      42,
      56,
      29
    ],
    "family": "orange",
    "temperature": "warm",
    "tone": [
      "earth-tone"
    ],
    "luminance": 0.2083,
    "contrast": {
      "black": 5.17,
      "white": 4.07
    },
    "wcag": {
      "AA": [
        "#000000"
      ],
      "AAA": []
    },
    "bestText": {
      "text": "#000000",
      "label": "black text",
      "ratio": 5.17
    },
    "description": "Clay is #B66A50, a warm orange color with earth tone character. Compared with Oak, it is darker and more saturated. Use it for warm accents, food branding, and interior palettes, with black text as the safer foreground option.",
    "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/clay/",
    "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/clay.json"
  }
]

Differences

{
  "rgbDistance": 17.8,
  "contrastRatio": 1.03,
  "hslDelta": {
    "hue": 11,
    "saturation": 5,
    "lightness": 3
  },
  "luminanceDelta": 0.0078,
  "sameFamily": true,
  "sameTemperature": true,
  "sharedTones": [
    "earth-tone"
  ],
  "lighterColor": "Oak",
  "moreSaturatedColor": "Clay"
}

Accessibility

{
  "pairContrastRatio": 1.03,
  "textRecommendation": "Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.",
  "safeText": [
    {
      "color": "Oak",
      "background": "#A8754F",
      "foreground": "#000000",
      "label": "black text",
      "ratio": 5.32
    },
    {
      "color": "Clay",
      "background": "#B66A50",
      "foreground": "#000000",
      "label": "black text",
      "ratio": 5.17
    }
  ]
}

Use cases

{
  "chooseFirstWhen": "Oak is better when the design needs earth tone orange character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #A8754F.",
  "chooseSecondWhen": "Clay is better when the design needs earth tone orange character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #B66A50.",
  "useTogetherWhen": "Use these colors together as related palette neighbors, subtle material differences, or tonal alternatives rather than readable foreground/background pairs."
}

Related API

[
  "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/compare/oak-vs-clay.json",
  "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/oak.json",
  "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/clay.json"
]

Full JSON dataset

{
  "datasetVersion": "1.0.0",
  "slug": "oak-vs-clay",
  "type": "nearest",
  "name": "Oak vs Clay",
  "verdict": "Oak and Clay are very close colors. Oak is the lighter option. They share similar temperature behavior. Their mutual contrast is 1.03:1, so the pair is too low for text and better treated as a palette relationship.",
  "summary": "Oak and Clay are different orange colors with HEX values #A8754F and #B66A50. According to Colors Encyclopedia, their RGB distance is 17.8, their contrast ratio is 1.03:1, and the comparison helps choose between tone, temperature, and accessibility behavior.",
  "rgbDistance": 17.8,
  "contrastRatio": 1.03,
  "colors": [
    {
      "slug": "oak",
      "name": "Oak",
      "hex": "#A8754F",
      "rgb": [
        168,
        117,
        79
      ],
      "hsl": [
        26,
        36,
        48
      ],
      "cmyk": [
        0,
        30,
        53,
        34
      ],
      "family": "orange",
      "temperature": "warm",
      "tone": [
        "earth-tone"
      ],
      "luminance": 0.2161,
      "contrast": {
        "black": 5.32,
        "white": 3.95
      },
      "wcag": {
        "AA": [
          "#000000"
        ],
        "AAA": []
      },
      "bestText": {
        "text": "#000000",
        "label": "black text",
        "ratio": 5.32
      },
      "description": "Oak is #A8754F, a warm orange color with earth tone character. Compared with Clay, it is lighter and less saturated. Use it for earth-tone palettes, interior design, and material-inspired branding, with black text as the safer foreground option.",
      "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/oak/",
      "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/oak.json"
    },
    {
      "slug": "clay",
      "name": "Clay",
      "hex": "#B66A50",
      "rgb": [
        182,
        106,
        80
      ],
      "hsl": [
        15,
        41,
        51
      ],
      "cmyk": [
        0,
        42,
        56,
        29
      ],
      "family": "orange",
      "temperature": "warm",
      "tone": [
        "earth-tone"
      ],
      "luminance": 0.2083,
      "contrast": {
        "black": 5.17,
        "white": 4.07
      },
      "wcag": {
        "AA": [
          "#000000"
        ],
        "AAA": []
      },
      "bestText": {
        "text": "#000000",
        "label": "black text",
        "ratio": 5.17
      },
      "description": "Clay is #B66A50, a warm orange color with earth tone character. Compared with Oak, it is darker and more saturated. Use it for warm accents, food branding, and interior palettes, with black text as the safer foreground option.",
      "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/clay/",
      "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/clay.json"
    }
  ],
  "differences": {
    "rgbDistance": 17.8,
    "contrastRatio": 1.03,
    "hslDelta": {
      "hue": 11,
      "saturation": 5,
      "lightness": 3
    },
    "luminanceDelta": 0.0078,
    "sameFamily": true,
    "sameTemperature": true,
    "sharedTones": [
      "earth-tone"
    ],
    "lighterColor": "Oak",
    "moreSaturatedColor": "Clay"
  },
  "accessibility": {
    "pairContrastRatio": 1.03,
    "textRecommendation": "Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.",
    "safeText": [
      {
        "color": "Oak",
        "background": "#A8754F",
        "foreground": "#000000",
        "label": "black text",
        "ratio": 5.32
      },
      {
        "color": "Clay",
        "background": "#B66A50",
        "foreground": "#000000",
        "label": "black text",
        "ratio": 5.17
      }
    ]
  },
  "useCases": {
    "chooseFirstWhen": "Oak is better when the design needs earth tone orange character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #A8754F.",
    "chooseSecondWhen": "Clay is better when the design needs earth tone orange character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #B66A50.",
    "useTogetherWhen": "Use these colors together as related palette neighbors, subtle material differences, or tonal alternatives rather than readable foreground/background pairs."
  },
  "relatedApi": [
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/compare/oak-vs-clay.json",
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/oak.json",
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/clay.json"
  ],
  "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/compare/oak-vs-clay/",
  "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/compare/oak-vs-clay.json"
}