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Buttressed Torrent violet

#9e176a
Notes

Buttressed Torrent violet (#9E176A) is a true magenta 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 (323°, 75%, 35%) 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 green. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#9e176a
RGB
rgb(158, 23, 106)
HSL
hsl(323, 75%, 35%)
HWB
hwb(323 9% 38%)
OKLCH
oklch(47.1% 0.182 349.5)
HSV
hsv(323, 85%, 62%)
LAB
lab(35.84% 58.32 -12.66)
LCH
lch(35.84% 59.68 347.75)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 85%, 33%, 38%)

Etymology

Buttressed
adjective

Old French bouterez, thrusting-mass — past-participle of buttress, derived from bouter (to thrust). As a color modifier, buttressed implies a saturated-and-architecturally-supported quality, the deep-rich color of Gothic-Cathedral flying-buttress-and-rib-vault stone-architecture. Sits at the bold-and-fortified end of the grid, parallel to fortified and reinforced.

Torrent
modifier

Latin torrens, rushing-or-burning-stream. As a color modifier, torrent implies a rushing-and-deluge-and-flash-flood quality, the visual register of Alpine-and-Pyrenean-torrent hand-rushing-and-deluge-and-flash-flood Alpine-and-Pyrenean-torrent-and-monsoon-deluge torrent-and-rushing-and-deluge surfaces under Alpine-and-Pyrenean-torrent-and-monsoon-deluge Alpine-Dolomites-and-Pyrenean-cirque deluge-rushing-water-light. Sits at the modifier-and-weather end of the grid, parallel to rain and thaw in usage.

violet
noun

Viola odorata, the European sweet violet — small, fragrant, and the original meaning of the color name in English (the Violet of the rainbow). The color refers to a fresh sweet violet blossom in late winter: a saturated, slightly red-shifted deep blue-purple with the matte finish of small five-petaled flower. Cooler than amethyst, warmer than indigo, with the perfumed weight of a flower used in Roman garlands and Victorian eau de toilette.

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.

#9e176a
Original
#32456c
Protanopia
#595d67
Deuteranopia
#aa0840
Tritanopia
#3a3a3a
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
7.54:1
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
2.78:1

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