RAL Design System plus — hue 010

Here lies a distinction that is often confused in practice. Within the red hues 010 is the coolest: beside 030 it reads unmistakably bluer. But on the warm–cool scale of the colour system as a whole, 010 is still pronouncedly warm. The maximum of colour warmth lies at a hue angle of around 50 degrees, in the oranges; 010 is close enough to it for the warmth to remain dominant.

What makes the red restrained here is therefore not coolness but distance from orange. And that distance translates into use: a tone from 010 looks controlled where the same lightness level in 040 immediately demands attention. That explains why this hue recurs in hospitality, retail and corporate applications where red has to speak without shouting.

Red is the colour that is noticed fastest and stays recognisable longest as the visual system declines. In care settings that is well known: where other colours merge into one another with age and dementia, red keeps standing apart. For landmarks and wayfinding that is a property worth using deliberately.

All 55 colours in this group

RAL 010 20 10 — Wenge blackView RAL 010 20 10 →RAL 010 20 15 — Cherry blackView RAL 010 20 15 →RAL 010 20 20 — Dark mahoganyView RAL 010 20 20 →RAL 010 20 25 — Rusty redView RAL 010 20 25 →RAL 010 30 10 — Wood-black redView RAL 010 30 10 →RAL 010 30 15 — Night mauveView RAL 010 30 15 →RAL 010 30 20 — Pinkish brownView RAL 010 30 20 →RAL 010 30 25 — Chestnut redView RAL 010 30 25 →RAL 010 30 30 — Leather redView RAL 010 30 30 →RAL 010 30 35 — Anthracite redView RAL 010 30 35 →RAL 010 30 40 — Brown magentaView RAL 010 30 40 →RAL 010 30 44 — Atlas redView RAL 010 30 44 →RAL 010 40 10 — Caput mortuum grey redView RAL 010 40 10 →RAL 010 40 15 — Rust brownView RAL 010 40 15 →RAL 010 40 20 — Sunset redView RAL 010 40 20 →RAL 010 40 25 — Mineral redView RAL 010 40 25 →RAL 010 40 30 — Dull magentaView RAL 010 40 30 →RAL 010 40 35 — Velvet redView RAL 010 40 35 →RAL 010 40 40 — Algae redView RAL 010 40 40 →RAL 010 40 45 — Raspberry ice cream redView RAL 010 40 45 →RAL 010 40 50 — Fuchsia redView RAL 010 40 50 →RAL 010 40 53 — Primal redView RAL 010 40 53 →RAL 010 50 10 — Old mahoganyView RAL 010 50 10 →RAL 010 50 15 — Dull dusky pinkView RAL 010 50 15 →RAL 010 50 20 — Brickwork redView RAL 010 50 20 →RAL 010 50 25 — Matte carmineView RAL 010 50 25 →RAL 010 50 30 — Marble redView RAL 010 50 30 →RAL 010 50 35 — Geranium redView RAL 010 50 35 →RAL 010 50 40 — Slate pinkView RAL 010 50 40 →RAL 010 50 45 — Tulip redView RAL 010 50 45 →RAL 010 50 50 — Vibrant redView RAL 010 50 50 →RAL 010 60 10 — Lilac greyView RAL 010 60 10 →RAL 010 60 15 — Ice orchid redView RAL 010 60 15 →RAL 010 60 20 — Lime pinkView RAL 010 60 20 →RAL 010 60 25 — Lipstick pinkView RAL 010 60 25 →RAL 010 60 30 — Japanese coralView RAL 010 60 30 →RAL 010 60 35 — Rose redView RAL 010 60 35 →RAL 010 60 40 — Strawberry milkshake redView RAL 010 60 40 →RAL 010 60 45 — Luminous pinkView RAL 010 60 45 →RAL 010 70 10 — Pale mauveView RAL 010 70 10 →RAL 010 70 15 — Powder roseView RAL 010 70 15 →RAL 010 70 20 — Silver roseView RAL 010 70 20 →RAL 010 70 25 — Flamingo pinkView RAL 010 70 25 →RAL 010 70 30 — Cherry blossom pinkView RAL 010 70 30 →RAL 010 70 35 — Baby pinkView RAL 010 70 35 →RAL 010 80 10 — Mud pinkView RAL 010 80 10 →RAL 010 80 15 — Ice hot pinkView RAL 010 80 15 →RAL 010 80 20 — Pastel pinkView RAL 010 80 20 →RAL 010 85 05 — Pearl roseView RAL 010 85 05 →RAL 010 85 10 — Salmon roseView RAL 010 85 10 →RAL 010 85 15 — Milkshake pinkView RAL 010 85 15 →RAL 010 85 20 — Carnation pinkView RAL 010 85 20 →RAL 010 90 05 — Rose creamView RAL 010 90 05 →RAL 010 90 10 — Light apricotView RAL 010 90 10 →RAL 010 93 05 — White-redView RAL 010 93 05 →

More about hue 010

The flip side is that red is hard to ignore. On a large surface a saturated shade from this hue keeps demanding attention, even when that attention is unwanted. The muted shades at the left-hand end of the saturation scale are therefore far more usable in interiors than the saturated ones.

55 shades, from L\* 20 to L\* 93 and from C\* 05 to C\* 53. The darkest positions read as burgundy, the lightest as muted pink; between them lies the whole field you need to build a layered colour scheme within a single hue.

Most shades sit around L\* 40 and 50 — that is where red can be saturated most strongly. Towards the light side the range narrows quickly: at L\* 93 only one remains.

Red is the hardest colour family to apply evenly. Red pigments cover less well than neutral ones, so film thickness has a stronger effect on the final result. Two batches with the same code can differ visibly when they have been sprayed differently or built up differently. For approval, therefore, use the A4 colour samples as the colour standard, not a fan deck sample.

Technical data

Hue: 010 · Shades: 55 · Lightness: L\* 20–93 · Saturation: C\* 05–53 · Lab values: per shade on the colour page · LRV: 6.2 to 80.9 · Included in: RAL D4 A4 colour samples (colour standard), RAL D2 fan deck, RAL D3 colour book, RAL D4 atlas, RAL D6 and D8 boxes

Neighbouring hues

RAL Design 000, RAL Design 020

Loose colour samples from this group

Click a colour for the available formats, or see the full product range in the shop.

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