Exploring the Color #552AA1

#552AA1 sits at 262° on the color wheel, placing it in the violet family of the cool half of the spectrum. With 59% saturation and 40% lightness, it reads as a moderately saturated, shadowed tone — a balanced mid-energy presence that sits comfortably alongside other UI tones. Its RGB mix of 85, 42, 161 produces a 9.41:1 contrast ratio against white, which clears WCAG AAA for body text in that pairing.

In RGB space #552AA1 is a clear variant of CSS indigo — about 53 units away from #4B0082. Designers reach for violet hues at this saturation when the brief calls for a conversational, mid-energy register, and at this lightness when they want a present, comfortable mid-canvas voice. On screen the cool cast tends to pair best with warm neutrals in the 25°-45° range to add life.

Darkening Shades

Lightening Shades