• Indigo

  • Wavelength: 420-450 nm
  • Emotion: sadness
  • the deep blue of twilight and deep water — the threshold between day and night
  • evolutionary signal: fading light, reduced activity, seasonal change, introspection
  • properties

    • low arousal, low energy — induces contemplation and withdrawal
    • the color of dusk, the transition into darkness
    • historically the most expensive dye — extracted from Indigofera plants
  • in nature

    • twilight sky: the signal that activity must cease, predators emerge
    • deep ocean: below the photic zone, where light cannot reach
    • winter sky: seasonal affective response — less light, less serotonin, inward turn
  • in prism

    • inactivity, declining metrics, dormancy, deprecated content
    • the quiet signal — something fading, needs gentle attention