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Punchy Tarbuttite

#9c66fe
Notes

Punchy Tarbuttite (#9C66FE) is a true indigo with a cool character. It leans cool, sitting on the blue, green, and violet side of the wheel. Quiet and dependable, a fit for product UI and data visualization. Its HSL profile (261°, 99%, 70%) places it in the highly saturated band at a mid 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 lime. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#9c66fe
RGB
rgb(156, 102, 254)
HSL
hsl(261, 99%, 70%)
HWB
hwb(261 40% 0%)
OKLCH
oklch(64.2% 0.216 296.1)
HSV
hsv(261, 60%, 100%)
LAB
lab(55.81% 53.39 -68.24)
LCH
lch(55.81% 86.64 308.04)
CMYK
cmyk(39%, 60%, 0%, 0%)

Etymology

Punchy
adjective

A modern adjectival form of punch, to strike sharply. Used as a color word since the early twentieth century for hues that read as highly contrasting and visually loud. Punchy red, punchy yellow: the implication is full saturation combined with optical impact. Sits across the bold and bright buckets, near vivid and striking.

Tarbuttite
noun

Rare zinc-phosphate mineral first described from the Broken Hill lead-zinc deposits of Zambia in 1907, also found at Reaphook Hill in South Australia. Tarbuttite color refers to a deep-violet Broken Hill tarbuttite crystal cluster: a saturated, slightly cool deep blue-violet with the glassy finish of zinc-phosphate mineral. Named for Percy Coventry Tarbutt, an early-20th-century mining-company director.

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.

#9c66fe
Original
#0087ff
Protanopia
#1a84fb
Deuteranopia
#8487a9
Tritanopia
#7c7c7c
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).
AA Largeon White
3.66:1
The quick brown foxSample body text at normal size. The wcag minimum for body contrast is 4.5:1 (AA) or 7:1 (AAA).
AAon Black
5.75:1

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