Shadowed Aster
Shadowed Aster (#3B2C8B) is a true blue with an earthy character. It leans grounded and natural, the kind of color that plays well with wood, clay, linen, and warm neutrals. Its HSL profile (249°, 52%, 36%) places it in the balanced band at a mid lightness. It works across type, buttons, and borders, saturated enough to feel deliberate but balanced enough to not fight the rest of the palette. For a confident two-color system, pair it with its complementary yellow. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.
Etymology
The past participle of shadow, used adjectivally for a color that reads as if partially in shadow rather than fully lit. Implies the slight darkening and cooling that any color undergoes when light is reduced — not the absence of color but the muting of it. Sits in the deep-and-cool end of the engine's grid, lighter than inky and warmer than somber.
The genus Aster — Greek for star — composite-family perennials whose blue-violet daisy-like flowers fill gardens in September and October when most other bloomers have finished. The color refers to a fresh New England aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae): a saturated, slightly violet-shifted blue with the matte finish of multi-rayed composite flowers. Cooler than veronica, warmer than larkspur, with the late-season weight of a flower that closes the perennial year.
Closest matches
The nearest named color in three reference sources, ranked by perceptual distance (ΔE76 in CIELAB). ΔE < 1 is imperceptible to most viewers; ΔE > 10 is clearly different. When two sources point to the same hex they’re merged into one tile; click any to open that color’s page.
Variations
Click any swatch to exploreHarmonies
Accessibility
How this color appears to viewers with the four major color-vision-deficiency types. Computed via the Machado (2009) physiologically-based model. If a tile matches the original, the color reads the same to that viewer.
The color used as foreground text against pure white and pure black, with the contrast ratio and WCAG 2.1 grade. Aim for AA (4.5:1) for body text and AA Large (3:1) for 18 pt+ headlines; AAA (7:1) is the gold standard for long-form reading surfaces.