Sullen Callicarpa
Sullen Callicarpa (#5C2087) is a deep indigo with a jewel character. It carries the deep, saturated richness of a gemstone. Authoritative and slightly formal, it works well for type and heavy UI elements. Its HSL profile (275°, 62%, 33%) places it in the balanced band at a dark lightness. It works well as a headline, icon, or deep background in an otherwise light layout, pairing cleanly with cream, bone, and warm neutrals. For a confident two-color system, pair it with its complementary lime. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.
Etymology
Old French solain, solitary via Anglo-French solein. As a color modifier, sullen implies a deep-and-cool-and-withholding quality, the dark cool-gray of Norwegian-fjord mid-winter atmospheric-overcast and saturated-saltwater-cliff in late-November light. Sits at the deep-and-cool end of the grid, parallel to gloomy and saturnine in atmospheric tone.
Asian beautyberry (Callicarpa dichotoma) — a deciduous shrub with axial clusters of brilliant deep-violet drupes ripening in autumn and persisting into winter on bare stems. Callicarpa color refers to a fully ripened Callicarpa dichotoma axial drupe-cluster: a saturated, slightly cool deep violet with the matte finish of anthocyanin-rich four-celled drupes. The genus name comes from the Greek kalós (beautiful) and karpós (fruit).
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.