Rich Woven Crimson

Old French riche, wealthy, abundant — applied to color since the medieval period for hues that read as plentiful in pigment. Rich red, rich brown: the implication is depth combined with saturation, a color that gives the eye more to absorb. Sits at the saturated mid-light corner of the engine's grid, slightly warmer than bold and deeper than vivid.

Old English wefan, to-weave. As a color modifier, woven implies a hand-loomed-warp-and-weft quality, the visual register of hand-loom-and-jacquard-loom hand-woven-and-loomed warp-and-weft hand-woven-and-loomed-textile surfaces under hand-woven-and-loomed-textile workshop-light. Sits at the modifier-and-texture end of the grid, parallel to spun and knit in usage.

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.