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Strong Bixbite

#901b3d
Notes

Strong Bixbite (#901B3D) 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 (343°, 68%, 34%) 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 teal. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#901b3d
RGB
rgb(144, 27, 61)
HSL
hsl(343, 68%, 34%)
HWB
hwb(343 11% 44%)
OKLCH
oklch(43.3% 0.152 10.0)
HSV
hsv(343, 81%, 56%)
LAB
lab(31.92% 49.29 10.51)
LCH
lch(31.92% 50.40 12.04)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 81%, 58%, 44%)

Etymology

Strong
adjective

Old English strang, firm, vigorous — applied to color since the sixteenth century. Strong red, strong tea: a color at full strength is the maximum saturation the medium can produce. Sits at the saturated mid corner of the grid, parallel to bold in usage but slightly more focused on pigment density than on assertion.

Bixbite
noun

An extremely rare red variety of beryl — found principally in the Wah Wah Mountains of Utah and the Thomas Range. Often called red emerald in the trade. The color refers to a faceted bixbite: a saturated, slightly cool deep red with the gem's signature internal life. Cooler than ruby, deeper than spinel.

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.

#901b3d
Original
#3b3c3e
Protanopia
#5a543a
Deuteranopia
#9e002a
Tritanopia
#363636
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
8.71:1
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
2.41:1

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