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Resonant Tanzanite

#4e39ac
Notes

Resonant Tanzanite (#4E39AC) is a true indigo 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 (251°, 50%, 45%) 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.

HEX
#4e39ac
RGB
rgb(78, 57, 172)
HSL
hsl(251, 50%, 45%)
HWB
hwb(251 22% 33%)
OKLCH
oklch(43.9% 0.174 285.0)
HSV
hsv(251, 67%, 67%)
LAB
lab(32.97% 40.09 -58.61)
LCH
lch(32.97% 71.02 304.37)
CMYK
cmyk(55%, 67%, 0%, 33%)

Etymology

Resonant
adjective

Latin resonāns, echoing — present-participle of resonate, sharing root with sonance. As a color modifier, resonant implies a saturated-and-deep-vibrating quality where the hue carries low-frequency visual richness. Sits at the bold-and-resonant end of the grid, parallel to sonorous and resounding in usage.

Tanzanite
noun

A blue-violet variety of zoisite — discovered in 1967 in a single small area of northern Tanzania near Mount Kilimanjaro and marketed by Tiffany & Co. shortly after. The color refers to a faceted tanzanite cut to maximize its strong pleochroism: a saturated, slightly violet-shifted deep blue-purple with the gem's signature internal life. Cooler than amethyst, warmer than iolite, with the gem-trade specificity of a stone that occurs in exactly one place on Earth.

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

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Harmonies

Accessibility

Color-vision simulation

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.

#4e39ac
Original
#0051b0
Protanopia
#004aaa
Deuteranopia
#25566d
Tritanopia
#464646
Achromatopsia
WCAG contrast

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.

The quick brown foxSample body text at normal size. The wcag minimum for body contrast is 4.5:1 (AA) or 7:1 (AAA).
AAAon White
8.38:1
The quick brown foxSample body text at normal size. The wcag minimum for body contrast is 4.5:1 (AA) or 7:1 (AAA).
Failon Black
2.50:1

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