For over 20 years, Pantone’s Color of the Year has influenced product development and purchasing decisions in multiple industries. To arrive at the selection each year, color experts comb the world looking for new color influences.
The selection process requires thoughtful consideration and trend analysis. Pantone Color Institute forecasts global color trends and advises companies on color for product and brand visual identity through seasonal trend forecasts. They partners with global brands to effectively leverage the power, psychology, and emotion of color in their design strategy.
They also have an awesome powerful platform called Pantone Connect that lets designers access Pantone Color Libraries, color values, and navigation tools, anywhere they work with color.
Color of the Year 2021
Illuminating – is a bright and cheerful yellow sparkling with vivacity, a warming yellow shade imbued with solar power. Ultimate Gray – is emblematic of solid and dependable elements which are everlasting and provide a firm foundation.
Two independent colors that highlight how different elements come together to support one another, best express the mood for Color of the Year 2021. Both colors conveying a message of strength and hopefulness that is both enduring and uplifting. It is a story of color that encapsulates deeper feelings of thoughtfulness with the promise of something sunny and friendly.
Color of the Year 2020
A timeless and enduring blue hue, Classic Blue is elegant in its simplicity. Suggestive of the sky at dusk, the reassuring qualities of the thought-provoking color that highlights our desire for a dependable and stable foundation on which to build as we cross the threshold into a new era.
Imprinted in our psyches as a restful color, Classic Blue brings a sense of peace and tranquility to the human spirit, offering refuge. Aiding concentration and bringing laser like clarity to re-centers our thoughts.
Color of the Year 2019
Living Coral emits the desired, familiar, and energizing aspects of color found in nature. It embodies our desire for playful expression.
Vibrant, yet mellow color embraces us with warmth and nourishment to provide comfort and buoyancy in our continually shifting environment. Representing the fusion of modern life, this is a nurturing color that appears in our natural surroundings and at the same time, displays a lively presence within social media.
Color of the Year 2018
Complex and contemplative, Ultra Violet suggests the mysteries of the cosmos, the intrigue of what lies ahead, and the discoveries beyond where we are now.
A dramatically provocative and thoughtful purple shade color communicates originality, ingenuity, and visionary thinking that points us toward the future. Nuanced and full of emotion, the depth of this color symbolizes experimentation and non-conformity, spurring individuals to imagine their unique mark on the world and push boundaries through creative outlets.
Color of the Year 2017
Greenery is nature’s neutral. It is a fresh and zesty yellow-green shade that evokes the first days of spring when nature’s greens revive, restore and renew.
It is a versatile “trans-seasonal” shade that lends itself to many color combinations. Illustrative of flourishing foliage and the lushness of the great outdoors, the fortifying attributes of Greenery signals consumers to take a deep breath, oxygenate and reinvigorate. Greenery is also emblematic of the pursuit of personal passions and vitality.
Color of the Year 2016
A softer take on color for 2016, the blending of two shades – Rose Quartz and Serenity are chosen as the Color of the Year. The prevalent combination also challenges traditional perceptions of color association.
Joined together, these two colors demonstrate an inherent balance between a warmer embracing rose tone and the cooler tranquil blue, reflecting connection and wellness as well as a soothing sense of order and peace. As consumers seek mindfulness and well-being as an antidote to modern day stresses, welcoming colors that psychologically fulfill our yearning for reassurance and security are becoming more prominent.
Color of the Year 2015
Marsala color is a stirring and flavorful shade for apparel and accessories, one that encourages color creativity and experimentation. A naturally robust and earthy red color enriches our minds, bodies and souls.
Equally appealing to men and women, the color is a stirring and flavorful shade for apparel and accessories, one that encourages color creativity and experimentation. This hearty, yet stylish tone is universally appealing and translates easily to fashion and beauty.
Color of the Year 2014
A modern and surprisingly versatile shade enlivens the feeling of being healthy and energetic. Radiant Orchid color is blended with both cool and warm undertones and also expressive. It blooms with confidence.
Likewise, the vibrant color is sure to liven up neutrals including gray, beige and taupe. Uplifting and bold without being overpowering. It reenergizes almost any color palette and provides a unifying element for diverse spaces.
Color of the Year 2013
A lively, radiant, lush green, is the Color of the Year for 2013. Emerald, a vivid verdant green, enhances our sense of well-being further by inspiring insight as well as promoting balance and harmony.
The most abundant hue in nature, the human eye sees more green than any other color in the spectrum.
Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute®.
Most often associated with brilliant, precious gemstones, the perception of Emerald is sophisticated and luxurious. Since antiquity, this luminous, magnificent hue has been the color of beauty and new life in many cultures and religions. Also the color of growth, renewal and prosperity, no other color conveys regeneration more than green. For centuries, many countries have chosen green to represent healing and unity.
Color of the Year 2012
Tangerine Tango, a vivacious and appealing spirited reddish orange color, provides the energy boost we need to recharge and move forward.
It is a provocative attention-getter orange color with a lot of depth to it. Also it has radiant shadings of a sunset with the friendliness and warmth of yellow, to form a high-visibility and magnetic hue that emanates heat and energy.
Color of the Year 2011
The 2011 color of the year, Honeysuckle, encouraged us to face everyday troubles with verve and vigor.
A dynamic reddish pink, Honeysuckle is encouraging and uplifting. It elevates our psyche beyond escape, instilling the confidence, courage and spirit to meet the exhaustive challenges that have become part of everyday life. The color derives its positive qualities from a powerful bond to its mother color red, the most physical, viscerally alive hue in the spectrum.
Color of the Year 2010
Turquoise – an inviting, luminous hue as the Color of the Year for 2010. Combining the serene qualities of blue and the invigorating aspects of green.
In many cultures, Turquoise is believed to be a protective talisman, a color of deep compassion and healing and a color of faith and truth, inspired by water and sky. It inspires thoughts of soothing and comforting escape from the everyday troubles of the world, while at the same time restoring our sense of wellbeing.
Through years of color word-association studies, we also find that to many people, Turquoise represents an escape, taking them to a tropical paradise that is pleasant and inviting – even if it is only a fantasy.
Past Color of the Years
To arrive at the selection each year, Pantone’s color experts look for new color influences. This can include the entertainment industry and films in production, traveling art collections and new artists, fashion, all areas of design, popular travel destinations, as well as new lifestyles, playstyles, and socio-economic conditions.
Influences may also stem from new technologies, materials, textures, and effects that impact color, relevant social media platforms and even upcoming sporting events that capture worldwide attention.