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Sinewy Titan Crimson

#bb2a2d
Notes

Sinewy Titan Crimson (#BB2A2D) is a true red with a warm character. It leans warm, pulling light toward red, orange, and yellow. Naturally inviting, it suits editorial and hospitality contexts. Its HSL profile (359°, 63%, 45%) 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 cyan. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#bb2a2d
RGB
rgb(187, 42, 45)
HSL
hsl(359, 63%, 45%)
HWB
hwb(359 16% 27%)
OKLCH
oklch(52.1% 0.181 25.3)
P3
color(display-p3 0.6747 0.2177 0.2030)
HSV
hsv(359, 78%, 73%)
LAB
lab(41.87% 56.63 34.81)
LCH
lch(41.87% 66.47 31.58)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 78%, 76%, 27%)

Etymology

Sinewy
adjective

Old English sinu, sinew — adjectival suffix -y. As a color modifier, sinewy implies a saturated-and-muscular-and-firm quality where the hue carries the lean-and-strong visual presence of a Roman-statue athletic figure. Sits at the bold-and-firm end of the grid, parallel to stalwart and rugged in usage.

Titan
modifier

Greek Τιτάν, primeval-Titan-or-Saturn-moon. As a color modifier, titan implies a Saturn-moon-and-methane-haze-and-primeval quality, the visual register of Saturn-moon-Titan-and-Cassini-Huygens hand-Saturn-moon-and-methane-haze-and-primeval Saturn-moon-Titan-and-Cassini-Huygens-and-Kraken-Mare titan-and-Saturn-moon-and-methane-haze surfaces under Saturn-moon-Titan-and-Cassini-Huygens-and-Kraken-Mare orange-haze-and-cryo-volcano-and-methane-lake outer-system-light. Sits at the modifier-and-cosmic end of the grid, parallel to saturn and neptune in usage.

Crimson
noun

From the Old Spanish cremesin, itself from the Arabic qirmiz — the kermes scale insect, dried and ground into a brilliant carmine dye prized in the medieval Mediterranean. For centuries the most expensive red on a draper's shelf, reserved for cardinals, kings, and the cloth that gave English the word crimson. Cooler than scarlet, deeper than rose; the color of pomegranate seeds and a serious occasion.

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 explore

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.

#bb2a2d
Original
#574f2b
Protanopia
#7b6e27
Deuteranopia
#ce002d
Tritanopia
#494949
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).
AAon White
6.03:1
The quick brown foxSample body text at normal size. The wcag minimum for body contrast is 4.5:1 (AA) or 7:1 (AAA).
AA Largeon Black
3.48:1

Wide gamut

Display P3 representation

The CSS Color 4 wide-gamut form of this color. Both swatches render the same color on every display — the P3 form only diverges from sRGB when a designer pushes channels outside sRGB's reach.

sRGB hex
sRGB hex
##BB2A2D
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.6747 0.2177 0.2030)
P3 has visible headroomOKLCH chroma 0.181

This color is chromatic enough that authoring it as P3 native (instead of clamping to sRGB) gives a perceptibly more saturated render on wide-gamut displays — modern Macs, iPhones, iPads, and most recent OLED laptops.

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