Once upon a time, Pantone picked purple!
The future is here, and it is ultra.
Ultra Violet that is...as Pantone recently announced it to be their 2018 “Color of the Year.” Even if you haven’t met me, surely by now you know my reaction to this news. Pantone #18-3838 is here and I am having it.
After last year’s Kermit debacle, I was ready to accept any number of hues and had guessed it would either be an electric selection or a very pale neutral. How did I make my guess? Based on past experience with Pantone’s Color of the Year (It’s a red-letter day on my calendar each year), I knew they would choose a color based on its world-wide saturation, prevalence in design – especially fashion trends, and its ability to be reflective of our global experience.
I don’t watch fashion shows with an eagle eye, but like most designers, I do track them for concepts and texture trends. I also think most designers keep an eye on the global (read: not just USA) politics. From these, I’ve seen trends embracing the hot bed of emotional offense and outrage and others desperate desire to return to simplicity. So, I felt safe to project that we would not find ourselves in a jewel tone or primary shade for this year’s Color of the Year. It would have to be hot-hot or pale-pale. Hot-hot it is!
Pantone puts countless hours of work into each Color of the Year selection, tracking shades for years to see if they rise or fall in popularity and meeting as a committee to compare research across nations, design fields, and any number of influences. For Ultra Violet, they created a list of key words surrounding the significance of their selection. Some of those words are: inventive, intuitive, complex, enigmatic, intriguing, meditative, dramatic, and contemplative.
They also created a number of palettes to highlight the Color of the Year:
What a fabulous variety of moods these palettes evoke. Ultra Violet certainly proves itself to be complex, intriguing, and more. As someone who of gave 2017 the side-eye, I’m all in for 2018 and its Ultra Violet future. What do you think of Pantone’s selection?
*All images were created by Pantone and are available for review on their website: www.pantone.com