Pantone Announces PANTONE 18-3838 Ultra Violet to be Color of the Year 2018
Pantone just announced their Color of the Year 2018: Ultra Violet. The purple shade sets out to be the color shaping 2018 when it comes to design in nearly every industry sector.
Drumrolls please: PANTONE 18-3838 UltraViolet is Pantone’s new Color of the Year! Since the provider of professional color language standards and digital solutions unveiled THE color shaping 2018, it is omnipresent online with lists presenting beauty products, fashion and interior decoration in this purple shade.
After Greenery Comes Ultra Violet
In 2017 Pantone made PANTONE 15-0343 Greenery Color of the Year meant to symbolize new beginnings, whereas Ultra Violet stands for originality, ingenuity, and visionary thinking. It offers a refuge from today’s sensory overload and meets the desire to pursue a world beyond our own.
Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute (PCI), explains:
„We are living in a time that requires inventiveness and imagination. It is this kind of creative inspiration that is indigenous to PANTONE 18-3838 Ultra Violet, a blue-based purple that takes our awareness and potential to a higher level. From exploring new technologies and the greater galaxy, to artistic expression and spiritual reflection, intuitive Ultra Violet lights the way to what is yet to come.“
Laurie Pressman, Vice President of PCI adds:
„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. As individuals around the world become more fascinated with color and realize its ability to convey deep messages and meanings, designers and brands should feel empowered to use color to inspire and influence.“
What Does the Color of the Year Hold for our Industry?
This fits to the fact that
„[c]ompanies as large as NBCUniversal, as culturally resonant as Instagram, and as burgeoning as Twitch have weaved purple shades into their brand identity as a symbol of their commitment to challenging what’s possible in their respective arenas.“
What is more: Ultra Violet also is a perfect match for the packaging industry since it comes along with a multi-dimensional feeling that especially enables products from the CPG, luxury, and beauty sector to stand out. Additionally, the marketers come on board. Just think of the special edition make-up lines Pantone developed, for instance, in partnership with Sephora featuring 2012’s Color of the Year PANTONE 17-1463 Tangerine Tango.
How is The Color of the Year Selected?
Representatives from various nations’ color standard group meet up secretly twice a year to discuss about the color for the following year. The main requirement: The color has to meet the zeitgeist. All in all, their decision takes up to two days and is published in Pantone View, a guide giving creatives a feeling what is about to come.
To put it in a nutshell: Every year, the announcement of the Color of the Year marks a milestone offering those involved with design a strategic direction. By the way: The first Color of the Year was Cerulean, a color ranging between blue and azure, in 2000. In total, there are almost 2.000 colors existing in the Pantone Color Matching System today. They are even used in government legislation and military standards, for example to describe the colors of flags and seals.
The Triumph of Pantone
It all began in the 1950s when M & J Levine Advertising founded a commercial printing company. Their first step was to set about systematizing and simplifying its stock of pigments and production of colored inks. The mastermind behind the ink and printing division was Lawrence Herbert who soon took over the business and renamed it Pantone. Meanwhile Pantone is a wholly owned subsidiary of X-Rite.
Do you already have application purposes in mind when thinking of Ultra Violet? Let us know in the comment section.
