Pantone have announced their colour for the year coming. The annual announcement is awaited eagerly in the design industry, with the Colour of The Year 2018 being Ultra Violet (18-3838).
On their release page, Pantone spoke of an ‘inventive and imaginative’ tone that ‘lights the way to what is yet to come.’ A key theme to the explanation was one of creativity and initiative, something that the company sees as vital following a year of turbulence politically and socially. Moving forwards, in other words.
“The Pantone Color of the Year has come to mean so much more than ‘what’s trending’ in the world of design; it’s truly a reflection of what’s needed in our world today,” says Laurie Pressman, Vice President of the Pantone Color Institute, which perhaps explains their eagerness to justify the descriptions and adjectives involved in the release.
“A dramatically provocative and thoughtful purple shade,” they title Ultra Violet, that “communicates originality, ingenuity, and visionary thinking that points us toward the future.”
It’s certainly not subtle: the message from Pantone is ‘enough of that, lets look forward.’ They want to see creativity, innovative thinking, and fresh insights into how we do what we do to take us beyond what we’ve previously seen and lead us into – without meaning to exaggerate it all – a new age of thinking in design.
What will be interesting in the coming twelve months is the take up or otherwise of their vision.
Pantone also says that, historically, Ultra Violet has been associated with a spiritual quality that reflects mindfulness and refuge. Again, point made – society must look at ourselves and where we want to go from here.
So, a political message from the leaders of colour for designers and, indeed, everyone, to take into the coming year. The Pantone Colour Institute is a consulting service within Pantone that advises companies and individuals on brand identity through colour.
