ColorCollectIndigo scavenger hunt: 18 things to find
Indigo is the color between blue and violet — the dye that made denim famous and the deepest band of the rainbow. It's a moody, bookish color: ink, dusk, dark denim.
18 indigo things to find
A ready-made indigo scavenger hunt list — every one of these is genuinely findable on an ordinary walk, in a shop, or around the house. Photograph each one you spot.
- Raw dark denim
- The sky at deep dusk
- Ink — a fountain-pen display or a tattoo-shop sign
- Indigo-dyed textiles in a shop
- Blackberries or dark plums
- Neon signage reflected on wet pavement
- A pair of unwashed jeans on a rail
- Japanese noren curtains or shibori fabric
- A dark iris or a delphinium
- The deep band of a rainbow
- A fountain pen's ink bottle
- An old hardback book cloth
- A twilight window with a lamp behind it
- Elderberries on a bush
- A batik or block-printed scarf
- Deep-blue LED lighting in a shop
- A bruised plum or damson
- Dark blue enamel cookware
How to hunt indigo
Raw denim is the single most reliable indigo there is, and a clothing shop will have a wall of it. The other dependable version is the sky about twenty minutes after sunset, when it has gone past blue but not yet to black.
What indigo gets confused with
Navy is darker and has no purple in it; violet has much more red. Indigo is the one that looks blue until you put it next to a real blue, at which point the purple shows up.
Full rules and more lists in the color scavenger hunt guide →
Hunt Indigo with ColorCollect
Pick Indigo, photograph the finds from the list above, and they snap into a montage you can save and share. Hunt solo, or share a 6-letter code and race your friends through the same list.
The Indigo tonal scale
Not every indigo find is the same indigo. This is the 11-stop ramp from the palest to the deepest shade — useful for settling whether a find counts. Tap a swatch to copy its name.
Colors that go with Indigo
Pairings computed from Indigo's own hue — handy if you are setting a two-color hunt or planning a themed round. Tap to copy.
Frequently asked questions
What are some indigo things to find?
Raw dark denim, The sky at deep dusk, Ink — a fountain-pen display or a tattoo-shop sign, Indigo-dyed textiles in a shop, Blackberries or dark plums — and 13 more on this page. Anything counts as long as the color matches; the argument about what counts is half the fun.
How do I find indigo on a scavenger hunt?
Raw denim is the single most reliable indigo there is, and a clothing shop will have a wall of it. The other dependable version is the sky about twenty minutes after sunset, when it has gone past blue but not yet to black.
What colors is indigo confused with?
Navy is darker and has no purple in it; violet has much more red. Indigo is the one that looks blue until you put it next to a real blue, at which point the purple shows up.
Nearby colors to hunt
The closest hues to Indigo — each with its own list of things to find.