RAL Design System plus — hue 230

In the use of colour, coolness is not a mood but an instrument. A surface from this hue creates distance: it looks further away than it is, it makes a space more spacious and at the same time more impersonal, and it takes the warmth out of the materials beside it. Next to oak or beech the timber becomes noticeably yellower; next to concrete the concrete loses its yellow side and turns drab.

What matters is that the strength of that effect comes not from the hue but from the saturation. RAL Design 230 at C\* 05 feels virtually neutral — you can see that in RAL Design 230 90 05, which is officially called Brilliant white and functions in use as a white. The same hue number at C\* 40 is outspokenly cold. Within this hue you therefore regulate the chill with the last block of the code, not by choosing a neighbouring hue.

The darkest shade, RAL Design 230 20 20, carries the name Prussian blue. That is not an invented colour name but a reference to the first modern synthetic pigment, iron blue, which has existed since the beginning of the eighteenth century and lies precisely in this part of the circle. Its behaviour explains the shape of this hue: enormous tinting strength, very low lightness, and a tendency to discolour under alkaline conditions. On lime-rich substrates and in mineral systems that has always been the historical problem; in modern paint and powder it has been solved with organic pigments that achieve the same colour impression.

All 41 colours in this group

RAL 230 20 10 — Ore bluish blackView RAL 230 20 10 →RAL 230 20 15 — Firmanent blueView RAL 230 20 15 →RAL 230 20 20 — Prussian blueView RAL 230 20 20 →RAL 230 30 10 — Galenite blueView RAL 230 30 10 →RAL 230 30 15 — Berry blue greenView RAL 230 30 15 →RAL 230 30 20 — Teal dark blueView RAL 230 30 20 →RAL 230 30 25 — Thunderstorm blueView RAL 230 30 25 →RAL 230 40 10 — Cone green blueView RAL 230 40 10 →RAL 230 40 15 — Juniper berry blueView RAL 230 40 15 →RAL 230 40 20 — Loon turquoiseView RAL 230 40 20 →RAL 230 40 25 — Workshop blueView RAL 230 40 25 →RAL 230 40 30 — Pilot blueView RAL 230 40 30 →RAL 230 40 35 — Ink blueView RAL 230 40 35 →RAL 230 40 40 — Techno blueView RAL 230 40 40 →RAL 230 50 10 — Gravel grey blueView RAL 230 50 10 →RAL 230 50 15 — Spruce blueView RAL 230 50 15 →RAL 230 50 20 — Casual blueView RAL 230 50 20 →RAL 230 50 25 — Forget-me-not blueView RAL 230 50 25 →RAL 230 50 30 — Zircon blueView RAL 230 50 30 →RAL 230 50 35 — Lagoon blueView RAL 230 50 35 →RAL 230 50 40 — Azores blueView RAL 230 50 40 →RAL 230 60 10 — Kingfisher greyView RAL 230 60 10 →RAL 230 60 15 — Silver fir blueView RAL 230 60 15 →RAL 230 60 20 — Pyjama blueView RAL 230 60 20 →RAL 230 60 25 — Starflower blueView RAL 230 60 25 →RAL 230 60 30 — Sports blueView RAL 230 60 30 →RAL 230 60 35 — Greek blueView RAL 230 60 35 →RAL 230 60 40 — Alpine blueView RAL 230 60 40 →RAL 230 70 10 — Ice gull grey blueView RAL 230 70 10 →RAL 230 70 15 — Thistleblossom soft blueView RAL 230 70 15 →RAL 230 70 20 — Tennis blueView RAL 230 70 20 →RAL 230 70 25 — Vintage blueView RAL 230 70 25 →RAL 230 70 30 — Fitness blueView RAL 230 70 30 →RAL 230 80 10 — Pallid blueView RAL 230 80 10 →RAL 230 80 15 — Alpine morning blueView RAL 230 80 15 →RAL 230 80 20 — Light blueView RAL 230 80 20 →RAL 230 85 05 — Polar soft blueView RAL 230 85 05 →RAL 230 85 10 — Washing powder whiteView RAL 230 85 10 →RAL 230 85 15 — Himalaya white blueView RAL 230 85 15 →RAL 230 85 20 — Atmospheric soft blueView RAL 230 85 20 →RAL 230 90 05 — Brilliant whiteView RAL 230 90 05 →

More about hue 230

With a light reflectance value of 6.0, this shade is the darkest of the six blue hues around it. In a specification prescribing a minimum difference in light reflectance value, it effectively functions as black.

This hue counts 41 shades, against 51 in both 220 and 240. That is striking, and it has to do with its position: exactly at the coldest point the nearest shades of the neighbours lie so close together that a finer division no longer yields any perceptible difference. The range runs from L\* 20 to L\* 90 and from C\* 05 to C\* 40, with the saturation maximum at RAL Design 230 40 40 Techno blue.

That range is moreover unevenly distributed across the field. The saturated shades sit in the dark and middle area — RAL Design 230 40 35 Ink blue, RAL Design 230 50 30 Zircon blue — and above L\* 80 only the weak saturation remains. If you want a light blue that still keeps its intensity, that lies outside this hue.

Of the three colour attributes, hue is the strongest predictor of whether people find a colour attractive, and in that research blue consistently scores highest. This hue therefore stands on the most favourable part of the circle: resistance to the colour choice itself is unlikely here.

That is no licence. Preference says almost nothing about activation — a colour people find attractive does not make a space lively. For liveliness you need saturation, and that is precisely what is limited here. In an office, a school or a workshop, a blue from 230 therefore yields a widely accepted but calm, rather static space. If you want movement, look for the accent elsewhere.

Never assess this hue under artificial light alone. Warm artificial light lacks exactly the part of the spectrum this blue needs: the colour then loses saturation and tips towards grey, while in daylight it stands full. For approval, lay the A4 colour samples next to the work as the colour standard, in daylight or standardised light.

Technical data

Hue: 230 · Shades: 41 · Lightness: L\* 20–90 · Saturation: C\* 05–40 · Lab values: per shade on the colour page · LRV: 6.0 to 77.7 · 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 220, RAL Design 240

Loose colour samples from this group

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