Nearest-color comparison

Red Clay vs Desert Clay

Red Clay and Desert Clay are different orange colors with HEX values #B45A3C and #B86D4B. According to Colors Encyclopedia, their RGB distance is 24.5, their contrast ratio is 1.19:1, and the comparison helps choose between tone, temperature, and accessibility behavior.

Red Clay and Desert Clay are very close colors. Desert Clay is the lighter option. They share similar temperature behavior. Their mutual contrast is 1.19:1, so the pair is too low for text and better treated as a palette relationship.

Differences Use cases Accessibility JSON

Red Clay#B45A3C

Desert Clay#B86D4B

Quick Difference Summary

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

RGB distance24.5

Pair contrast1.19:1

Luminance delta0.043

Hue delta4 deg

Lighter colorDesert Clay

More saturatedRed Clay

Side-by-Side Color Profiles

orange color

Red Clay

Red Clay is #B45A3C, a warm orange color with earth tone character. Compared with Desert Clay, it is darker and more saturated. Use it for earth-tone palettes, interior design, and material-inspired branding, with white text as the safer foreground option.

HEX#B45A3C RGB180, 90, 60 HSL15, 50, 47 CMYK0, 50, 67, 29 Luminance0.1734 Best textwhite text

Color page WCAG HEX atlas

orange color

Desert Clay

Desert Clay is #B86D4B, a warm orange color with earth tone character. Compared with Red 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#B86D4B RGB184, 109, 75 HSL19, 43, 51 CMYK0, 41, 59, 28 Luminance0.2164 Best textblack text

Color page WCAG HEX atlas

When to Use Red Clay or Desert Clay

Choose Red ClayRed Clay is better when the design needs earth tone orange character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #B45A3C.

Choose Desert ClayDesert Clay is better when the design needs earth tone orange character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #B86D4B.

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

Technical Comparison Table

PropertyRed ClayDesert Clay

HEX#B45A3C#B86D4B

RGB180, 90, 60184, 109, 75

HSL15, 50, 4719, 43, 51

CMYK0, 50, 67, 290, 41, 59, 28

FamilyOrangeOrange

TemperatureWarmWarm

ToneEarth ToneEarth Tone

Luminance0.17340.2164

Black contrast4.47:15.33:1

White contrast4.7:13.94:1

Shared tonesEarth Tone

Accessibility and Contrast

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

Red Claywhite text - 4.7:1

Desert Clayblack text - 5.33:1

Related Palette Strip

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

Red Clay#B45A3C

Desert Clay#B86D4B

#D28F79#D28F79

#D2A38E#D2A38E

#3C96B4#3C96B4

#4C96B8#4C96B8

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": "red-clay",
    "name": "Red Clay",
    "hex": "#B45A3C",
    "rgb": [
      180,
      90,
      60
    ],
    "hsl": [
      15,
      50,
      47
    ],
    "cmyk": [
      0,
      50,
      67,
      29
    ],
    "family": "orange",
    "temperature": "warm",
    "tone": [
      "earth-tone"
    ],
    "luminance": 0.1734,
    "contrast": {
      "black": 4.47,
      "white": 4.7
    },
    "wcag": {
      "AA": [
        "#FFFFFF"
      ],
      "AAA": []
    },
    "bestText": {
      "text": "#FFFFFF",
      "label": "white text",
      "ratio": 4.7
    },
    "description": "Red Clay is #B45A3C, a warm orange color with earth tone character. Compared with Desert Clay, it is darker and more saturated. Use it for earth-tone palettes, interior design, and material-inspired branding, with white text as the safer foreground option.",
    "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/red-clay/",
    "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/red-clay.json"
  },
  {
    "slug": "desert-clay",
    "name": "Desert Clay",
    "hex": "#B86D4B",
    "rgb": [
      184,
      109,
      75
    ],
    "hsl": [
      19,
      43,
      51
    ],
    "cmyk": [
      0,
      41,
      59,
      28
    ],
    "family": "orange",
    "temperature": "warm",
    "tone": [
      "earth-tone"
    ],
    "luminance": 0.2164,
    "contrast": {
      "black": 5.33,
      "white": 3.94
    },
    "wcag": {
      "AA": [
        "#000000"
      ],
      "AAA": []
    },
    "bestText": {
      "text": "#000000",
      "label": "black text",
      "ratio": 5.33
    },
    "description": "Desert Clay is #B86D4B, a warm orange color with earth tone character. Compared with Red 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/desert-clay/",
    "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/desert-clay.json"
  }
]

Differences

{
  "rgbDistance": 24.5,
  "contrastRatio": 1.19,
  "hslDelta": {
    "hue": 4,
    "saturation": 7,
    "lightness": 4
  },
  "luminanceDelta": 0.043,
  "sameFamily": true,
  "sameTemperature": true,
  "sharedTones": [
    "earth-tone"
  ],
  "lighterColor": "Desert Clay",
  "moreSaturatedColor": "Red Clay"
}

Accessibility

{
  "pairContrastRatio": 1.19,
  "textRecommendation": "Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.",
  "safeText": [
    {
      "color": "Red Clay",
      "background": "#B45A3C",
      "foreground": "#FFFFFF",
      "label": "white text",
      "ratio": 4.7
    },
    {
      "color": "Desert Clay",
      "background": "#B86D4B",
      "foreground": "#000000",
      "label": "black text",
      "ratio": 5.33
    }
  ]
}

Use cases

{
  "chooseFirstWhen": "Red Clay is better when the design needs earth tone orange character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #B45A3C.",
  "chooseSecondWhen": "Desert Clay is better when the design needs earth tone orange character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #B86D4B.",
  "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/red-clay-vs-desert-clay.json",
  "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/red-clay.json",
  "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/desert-clay.json"
]

Full JSON dataset

{
  "datasetVersion": "1.0.0",
  "slug": "red-clay-vs-desert-clay",
  "type": "nearest",
  "name": "Red Clay vs Desert Clay",
  "verdict": "Red Clay and Desert Clay are very close colors. Desert Clay is the lighter option. They share similar temperature behavior. Their mutual contrast is 1.19:1, so the pair is too low for text and better treated as a palette relationship.",
  "summary": "Red Clay and Desert Clay are different orange colors with HEX values #B45A3C and #B86D4B. According to Colors Encyclopedia, their RGB distance is 24.5, their contrast ratio is 1.19:1, and the comparison helps choose between tone, temperature, and accessibility behavior.",
  "rgbDistance": 24.5,
  "contrastRatio": 1.19,
  "colors": [
    {
      "slug": "red-clay",
      "name": "Red Clay",
      "hex": "#B45A3C",
      "rgb": [
        180,
        90,
        60
      ],
      "hsl": [
        15,
        50,
        47
      ],
      "cmyk": [
        0,
        50,
        67,
        29
      ],
      "family": "orange",
      "temperature": "warm",
      "tone": [
        "earth-tone"
      ],
      "luminance": 0.1734,
      "contrast": {
        "black": 4.47,
        "white": 4.7
      },
      "wcag": {
        "AA": [
          "#FFFFFF"
        ],
        "AAA": []
      },
      "bestText": {
        "text": "#FFFFFF",
        "label": "white text",
        "ratio": 4.7
      },
      "description": "Red Clay is #B45A3C, a warm orange color with earth tone character. Compared with Desert Clay, it is darker and more saturated. Use it for earth-tone palettes, interior design, and material-inspired branding, with white text as the safer foreground option.",
      "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/red-clay/",
      "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/red-clay.json"
    },
    {
      "slug": "desert-clay",
      "name": "Desert Clay",
      "hex": "#B86D4B",
      "rgb": [
        184,
        109,
        75
      ],
      "hsl": [
        19,
        43,
        51
      ],
      "cmyk": [
        0,
        41,
        59,
        28
      ],
      "family": "orange",
      "temperature": "warm",
      "tone": [
        "earth-tone"
      ],
      "luminance": 0.2164,
      "contrast": {
        "black": 5.33,
        "white": 3.94
      },
      "wcag": {
        "AA": [
          "#000000"
        ],
        "AAA": []
      },
      "bestText": {
        "text": "#000000",
        "label": "black text",
        "ratio": 5.33
      },
      "description": "Desert Clay is #B86D4B, a warm orange color with earth tone character. Compared with Red 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/desert-clay/",
      "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/desert-clay.json"
    }
  ],
  "differences": {
    "rgbDistance": 24.5,
    "contrastRatio": 1.19,
    "hslDelta": {
      "hue": 4,
      "saturation": 7,
      "lightness": 4
    },
    "luminanceDelta": 0.043,
    "sameFamily": true,
    "sameTemperature": true,
    "sharedTones": [
      "earth-tone"
    ],
    "lighterColor": "Desert Clay",
    "moreSaturatedColor": "Red Clay"
  },
  "accessibility": {
    "pairContrastRatio": 1.19,
    "textRecommendation": "Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.",
    "safeText": [
      {
        "color": "Red Clay",
        "background": "#B45A3C",
        "foreground": "#FFFFFF",
        "label": "white text",
        "ratio": 4.7
      },
      {
        "color": "Desert Clay",
        "background": "#B86D4B",
        "foreground": "#000000",
        "label": "black text",
        "ratio": 5.33
      }
    ]
  },
  "useCases": {
    "chooseFirstWhen": "Red Clay is better when the design needs earth tone orange character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #B45A3C.",
    "chooseSecondWhen": "Desert Clay is better when the design needs earth tone orange character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #B86D4B.",
    "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/red-clay-vs-desert-clay.json",
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/red-clay.json",
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/desert-clay.json"
  ],
  "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/compare/red-clay-vs-desert-clay/",
  "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/compare/red-clay-vs-desert-clay.json"
}