RAL Design System plus — hue 320

Where the violet area usually has its mass in the dark middle, in 320 a striking amount of the range lies at the light end with low saturation. RAL Design 320 60 10 Chalk violet, 320 70 05 Elderberry grey and 320 80 10 Amethyst light violet show what that yields: colours that in a space are not called purple, but a grey or an off-white with a direction.

In interiors that is the most requested part of this hue. A wall in RAL Design 320 80 10 with a light reflectance value of 57.6 reads as light and receding, and still gives the space a colour that does not come from the grey axis. For housing, hotel rooms and open-plan offices that is exactly the usable middle position: colour without a statement.

Of the three colour attributes, hue is the strongest predictor of whether people find a colour attractive, stronger than lightness and much stronger than saturation. In that research blue scores highest; purple lies below it and, more importantly, it spreads widely. Purple is a colour people disagree about.

All 47 colours in this group

RAL 320 20 05 — Lava blackView RAL 320 20 05 →RAL 320 20 10 — Obsidian redView RAL 320 20 10 →RAL 320 20 15 — Spinel violetView RAL 320 20 15 →RAL 320 20 20 — Aubergine mauveView RAL 320 20 20 →RAL 320 20 25 — Dark purpleView RAL 320 20 25 →RAL 320 30 05 — Violet blackView RAL 320 30 05 →RAL 320 30 10 — Stone violetView RAL 320 30 10 →RAL 320 30 15 — Amethyst dark violetView RAL 320 30 15 →RAL 320 30 20 — Dark blackberryView RAL 320 30 20 →RAL 320 30 25 — Purpurite violetView RAL 320 30 25 →RAL 320 30 30 — Damson mauveView RAL 320 30 30 →RAL 320 30 35 — Grape purpleView RAL 320 30 35 →RAL 320 30 37 — Lounge violetView RAL 320 30 37 →RAL 320 40 05 — Slate mauveView RAL 320 40 05 →RAL 320 40 10 — Olivine basaltView RAL 320 40 10 →RAL 320 40 15 — Antique greyView RAL 320 40 15 →RAL 320 40 20 — Basil mauveView RAL 320 40 20 →RAL 320 40 25 — Gladiola violetView RAL 320 40 25 →RAL 320 40 30 — Cabbage blossom violetView RAL 320 40 30 →RAL 320 40 35 — Lilac violetView RAL 320 40 35 →RAL 320 40 40 — Violet purpleView RAL 320 40 40 →RAL 320 50 05 — Grey violetView RAL 320 50 05 →RAL 320 50 10 — British grey mauveView RAL 320 50 10 →RAL 320 50 15 — Parma greyView RAL 320 50 15 →RAL 320 50 20 — CyclamenView RAL 320 50 20 →RAL 320 50 25 — Poetry mauveView RAL 320 50 25 →RAL 320 50 30 — Viola greyView RAL 320 50 30 →RAL 320 50 35 — Aster violettaView RAL 320 50 35 →RAL 320 50 40 — Empire violetView RAL 320 50 40 →RAL 320 60 05 — Aragonite greyView RAL 320 60 05 →RAL 320 60 10 — Chalk violetView RAL 320 60 10 →RAL 320 60 15 — Amethyst grey violetView RAL 320 60 15 →RAL 320 60 20 — Wonder violetView RAL 320 60 20 →RAL 320 60 25 — Nightshade violetView RAL 320 60 25 →RAL 320 60 30 — Lobby lilacView RAL 320 60 30 →RAL 320 60 35 — Blackberry sorbetView RAL 320 60 35 →RAL 320 70 05 — Elderberry greyView RAL 320 70 05 →RAL 320 70 10 — Bellflower violetView RAL 320 70 10 →RAL 320 70 15 — Quartz violetView RAL 320 70 15 →RAL 320 70 20 — Beach lilacView RAL 320 70 20 →RAL 320 70 25 — Lilac pinkView RAL 320 70 25 →RAL 320 80 05 — Light violetView RAL 320 80 05 →RAL 320 80 10 — Amethyst light violetView RAL 320 80 10 →RAL 320 80 15 — Cosmetic mauveView RAL 320 80 15 →RAL 320 85 05 — Blackberry creamView RAL 320 85 05 →RAL 320 85 10 — Ametrine quartzView RAL 320 85 10 →RAL 320 90 05 — Apatite pinkView RAL 320 90 05 →

More about hue 320

For a commission with several decision-makers that is a fact to reckon with beforehand. A saturated shade from this hue rarely gains unanimous approval; the light, muted shades do. So anyone who wants to carry purple through on a large surface does best to do so low in saturation, and keeps the saturated part — RAL Design 320 30 37 Lounge violet, 320 40 30 Cabbage blossom violet, 320 50 20 Cyclamen — for accents, smaller surfaces and applications where standing out is the aim.

In 320 the saturation reaches up to C\* 40, just as in 310 and lower than in 330. That means even the most outspoken shade from this hue is still a muted purple; the bright magenta of print and screens is not in here and cannot be made with opaque pigments either.

With brand colours that is the standing stumbling block. A purple designed digitally almost always falls back in saturation in execution. In that case, choose the shade that comes closest to the brand in the final situation and fix it with the A4 colour samples as the colour standard, instead of continuing to hold the digital original as the norm.

47 shades, from L\* 20 to L\* 90 and from C\* 05 to C\* 40. The light reflectance values run from 6.4 to 77.0: from RAL Design 320 20 05 Lava black and 320 20 25 Dark purple at the bottom to RAL Design 320 90 05 Apatite pink at the top. The middle area around L\* 30 to 50 yields the workable purples for interiors and product design; RAL Design 320 30 10 Stone violet stands at the muted end there, Lounge violet at the saturated one.

Technical data

Hue: 320 · Shades: 47 · Lightness: L\* 20–90 · Saturation: C\* 05–40 · Lab values: per shade on the colour page · LRV: 6.4 to 77.0 · 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 310, RAL Design 330

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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