Shades of purpose: exploring colour palettes.

Summary/Overview

Whether you are creating a social media post, professional bio, or presentation, purple can be incorporated into your designs in a snap. Warm and cool shades of purple can be integrated into your colour palette, conveying a sense of luxury, resilience, or wisdom. With Adobe Express, you can add to your purple-inspired designs or create them from scratch. In this post, we delve into the multitude of purple shades, symbolism, and tips for creating a one-of-a-kind palette.

Purple shades and names.

On the colour wheel, purple is situated between red and blue, two of the primary colours (red, blue, and green). Purples with more blue are considered cool, and purples with more red are warm. In graphic design, purple is classified according to several systems:

• Hex colours: KSU purple, purple heart, royal purple, amethyst, and lenurple. These colours are defined using a code representing the intensity of the primary colours.
• RGB colour model: true purple, light purple, medium purple, electric purple, neon purple, and royal purple. Purple is constructed from units of the three primary colours, and shades are created by varying the amounts of each colour.
• CMYK colour mode: daily bush, light slate blue, electric purple, magnolia, mauve, electric indigo, Rebecca purple, and medium purple. Purple is created by combining magenta and cyan inks.
• RAL colour chart: 12 colours of violet hues.
• Pantone colour system: a wide range of purple hues, among over 2,300 colours.

Purple comes in various shades, levels of intensity, and brightness, also known as hue, saturation, and value (or lightness). Everyday purple names include mauve, indigo, lavender, periwinkle, orchid, plum, magenta, fuchsia, and Tyrian purple.

Different shades of purple.

Warm and cool shades of purple are present in both natural and man-made elements. Many shades are named for kinds of flowers and geological elements. Here is a short list of some well-known shades you can use in your designs:

• Amethyst, a cool or warm shade.
• Lavender, a cool shade, often with a pinkish tint.
• Lilac, a soft, warm shade.
• Violet, a cool shade associated with purple, describing a bluish hue.
• Eggplant and plum, warm, dark purples with reddish undertones.
• Tyrian purple, a deep, warm shade.

Try adjusting the level of brightness and intensity for a vibrant touch. Think bold fluorescent or neon purples. Or decrease the brightness and intensity for a soft, muted feel. Think of eggshell purple.

Editable templates with shades of purple.

Symbolism of purple.

Colour symbolism is the meaning associated with a colour in the context of a culture or time period. One of the most popular purple shades, royal purple is associated with nobility, riches, and glamour in Western cultures. Also called Tyrian purple, it is named after an expensive dye made from snails that was available only to the elite. The warm shade is considered a majestic, mystical, mysterious, and glamorous colour. Due to being more absent from nature than any other colour, it also connotes uniqueness, rarity, and value.

In modern culture, purple symbolises love, empathy, and resilience in mental health awareness campaigns, and with pride in the LGBTQ+ community. In Eastern spirituality it symbolises wisdom and spiritual enlightenment. In music and pop culture, it can represent expression, imagination, intrigue, and transcendence. With so many meanings, purple is a versatile choice that you can incorporate into your designs, depending on the message you want to convey.

Discovering the perfect shade of purple.

Discovering the perfect shade of purple is easy with Adobe Express. Here are some tips to get started creating content with your favourite shade.

First, explore the colour systems and everyday purple shades in the first section. Which ones pop? If you already have a warm or cool shade in mind, align your search with your brand guidelines. In the Adobe Express colour palette tool, you can find just the right shades. Try looking for purples with red undertones for a warmer purple aesthetic, and purples with blue undertones for a cooler purple aesthetic.

Nature and art are great sources of inspiration for discovering your favourite shade of purple. Violets and lavender will be on the cooler side, and art and design may offer a broader selection of shades. Then pick a similar colour in the Adobe Express colour palette tool. Or upload an image with your favourite shade, and use the eyedropper tool to create the perfect match you can use on your designs.

Build your own shades of purple templates with Adobe Express.

Tools for creating warm and cool shades of purple.

Whether you have a perfect shade of purple in mind, or just want to explore, Adobe Express makes it quick and easy to create warm and cool shades of purple for your designs.

Use the Adobe Express custom colour palette creator to generate your perfect colour combinations with shades of purple. When you create your design, Adobe automatically generates a colour palette (current colours). Shuffle them to explore warmer or cooler shades. Or try mixing purple with different hues. With the eyedropper tool, you can add the shade of purple on your design to the palette.

To create a purple colour palette from scratch, enter ‘purple’ in the search bar. Then Adobe Express will create a palette with purple shades and offer other suggestions. Here are some keywords to help you create palettes including warm or cool shades of purple, along with other hues.

• Purple: find cool purple in palettes like bold, colour pop, retro, professional, pastel, and neutral; warm shades in classic, modern.
• Warm purple gradient and cool purple gradient: discover shades of purple that gradually transition into one another.
• Purple orange gradient: discover gradients including purple and several other colours
• Purple with flowers: find pairings of warm and cool shades of purple with warm and cool earthy tones.

If you have already made a design, swap the colour palette in seconds for a completely new look that matches your aesthetic. Search for purple shades in the template gallery. Try keywords like lavender, eggplant, fig, amethyst, or purple. Or add a background, illustration, overlay, or texture to your design, whether you're using a purple colour theme or natural purple elements.

Try Adobe Express for free now

Useful things to know.

How can I create a brand kit with shades of purple?

In Adobe Express, you can create a brand from scratch. Save logos, fonts, graphics and colours (including warm and cool shades of purple, or colour palettes). Use it on all your marketing materials for consistency.

What types of content is purple best suited for?

Purple works with all types of content, whether you are creating flyers with a violet background, greeting cards with a lilac illustration, or presentations with a bold, warm purple font. Adobe Express makes it easy for you to choose a shade of purple that works for you.

Does purple always convey exclusivity or glamour?

No, while some creators may use purple to convey a sense of luxury, exclusivity, or high-quality, it is a versatile colour with other meanings, too. You might use the cool shades for its associations with calm and creativity, and warmer shades to evoke a feeling of vibrancy.

Explore more related posts.