Inky Shu
Inky Shu (#850A1F) is a deep red 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 (350°, 86%, 28%) places it in the highly saturated band at a dark lightness. Best used in small doses, like logos, CTAs, focus rings, or highlight text, where its saturation becomes a feature rather than noise. For a confident two-color system, pair it with its complementary teal. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.
Etymology
An adjectival form of ink, used as a color modifier since the eighteenth century to suggest the deep saturated black of fresh writing ink seen against white paper. Less about literal blackness than about the optical density of a fluid that absorbs light through its full thickness. Used at the dark end of any saturated hue: an inky blue is a deep saturated blue with the optical depth of pigment in solution.
Vermillion in Japanese — specifically the cinnabar-derived pigment used since the Heian period to paint Shinto torii gates, temple beams, and the lacquer of imperial seals. The color refers to a freshly painted Inari Shrine torii: a saturated, slightly orange red with the high gloss of layered urushi lacquer. Brighter than crimson, deeper than tangerine, with the sacred-architectural weight of a color reserved for thresholds between human and divine.
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.