The much-anticipated Color Of The Year by Pantone is back, and as usual, we will share with you what we know about the process and Why of Viva Magenta.
A few days into the announcement, we had more information on the market, read expert interviews, listened to Laurie Pressman, Vice-President of the Pantone Color Institute, and studied internet comments. Here is what we learned:
I.THE OFFICIAL STATEMENT
“Pantone’s Color of the Year, Viva Magenta 18-1750, vibrates with vim and vigour. It is a shade rooted in nature descending from the red family and expressive of a new signal of strength. Viva Magenta is brave, fearless, and a pulsating color whose exuberance promotes a joyous and optimistic celebration, writing a new narrative.
This year’s Color of the Year is powerful and empowering. It is a new animated red that revels in pure joy, encouraging experimentation and self-expression without restraint, an electrifying and boundaryless shade that manifests as a stand-out statement. PANTONE 18-1750 Viva Magenta welcomes anyone and everyone with the same verve for life and rebellious spirit. It is a color that is audacious, full of wit, and inclusive of all.”
II.WHO DECIDES?
The Process
It’s never one person who decides which color to pick to create a global effect. They work with a global team of color experts at the Pantone Color Institute, and their mission is to look into different industries and cultures that change. Today technology has more weight than when it started, with gaming, social media, and AR at the forefront.
Other eye-catching areas are entertainment at large (think about countless streaming platforms and their latest hits, such as Squid Games), fashion and textile art, new consumer tribes, emerging artists, collectible design, which is growing, conscious design and its impact (less, better, meaningful), sporting events (such as the Super Bowl), music, web3, or social media.
Any industry that you might consider expressive and creative has something to add.
Laurie Pressman, Vice President of the Pantone Color Institute, explains:
“We approach our color selection in a very pure way. No one on our global team comes to any Pantone Color of the Year discussion with a commercial agenda or inserts their personal preferences. As we like to say, we love all of our colors equally.
There’s also a misconception that we gather a bunch of color influencers in a room one day and emerge with the decision. Instead, as many of our Pantone Color Institute team members own their design studios, contribute to key influential global trend forecasts, work with clients prescribing color choices for product or brand visual identity, and even teach classes on color, their daily conversations are rooted in color and design, including material and surface finish. As a result, discussions relating to our Pantone Color of the Year selection do not take place in one isolated meeting at a specific time of year. It is one long, continuously flowing conversation among a group of color-attuned people.
Our Pantone Color Institute team members come from a wide range of design, cultural and geographical backgrounds. The commonality that brings them together is their expertise in color and design and their ability to see the world through the lens of color. That’s why I liken them to being color anthropologists. They have this intuitive ability to connect all that is taking place in the world and translate it into the language of color.
The emotional aspect of color is also a large aspect of our decision-making. We want to ensure that the colors we select reflect what is taking place in our global culture at a specific moment in time. With color and context so intertwined, there really are reasons why a color family or individual color comes into prominence when it does. For the most part, the popularity of color is symbolic of the age we live in. So, while each year is unique, and we look at each year separately, we also do look back to where we have been since we began this program in 1999.”
III.THE INSPIRATION
Where Did Inspiration From Nature Come From?
It’s the red of cochineal, one of the most precious dyes belonging to the natural dye family, as well as one of the strongest and brightest the world has known.
Cochineal is a scale insect from which the natural dye carmine is derived.
This beetle shows us how to survive. That hardened shell speaks of bravery and fearlessness that many of us acquired over the last two years.
Laurie Pressman, VP of the Pantone Color Institute
V. The Not-To-Be-Missed Nod To Technology
#magentaverse
Quite the contrary, Pantone identifies it as a “hybrid color” with a clear connection also to the digital and technical world, hence the term #magentaverse.
For the yearly announcement, the Pantone Color Institute teamed up with their long-time creative partner, Huge. With the help of the A.I. generative tool Midjourney they created a visual manifestation of Viva Magenta that represents nature & technology within the rich shade of red.
VI. THE IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE
#MAGENTAVERSE
Artechouse produces technology-driven exhibitions; they have partnered with Pantone in Miami to create the MAGENTAVERSE, where you can walk through boundless sights, sounds, feelings and inspirations of color.
This immersive experience lets you explore the virtual within the physical realm to examine the connections between nature and technology. By stepping into multiple immersive rooms with textures and interactions, you can feel the power of the hue in all of its forms. Again, a clear connection to the digital world.
VII. COLOR CODES & TOOLS
- Viva Magenta RGB
190, 52, 85
- Viva Magenta CMYK code
C0% M54% Y41% K25%
- Viva Magenta HEX
#BE3455
- Viva Magenta LAB
46,05 58,95 17,38
- Viva Magenta Pantone chips
VIVA MAGENTA 18-1750 + VIVA MAGENTA 18-1750 TCX (textiles)
VIII. THE PALETTE THAT PAIRS WELL
7 Additional Colors
The Pantone Color Institute releases the Color of the Year together with a palette of colors that work well with it:
- Pale Dogwood, PANTONE 13-1404
- Gray Sand, PANTONE 13-1010
- Gray Lilac, PANTONE 13-3804
- Pale Khaki, PANTONE 15-1216
- Fields of Rye, PANTONE 15-1115
- Agate Gray, PANTONE 15-6307
- Plein Air, PANTONE 13-4111
IX. WHERE DO YOU SEE IT APPLIED?
Home Decor & Interior Design
Where do you see this color applied in 2023? Looking towards the technology industry, Motorola launched together with Pantone the same day an updated colored version of its star product, Motorola Edge 30 Fusion.
Pantone suggests an application in Beauty & Hair, Fashion, Packaging, Multimedia Design, and Home Decor & Interior Design with the following statement:
“PANTONE 18-1750 Viva Magenta injects excitement and drama into home interiors, energizing any environment with its dynamic vibrancy. Imbued with vim and vigour, a nuanced crimson red that encourages self-expression, PANTONE 18-1750 Viva Magenta is suited to an array of different materials, textures, and surfaces. Invoking the spirit of nature, a carmine red that does not boldly dominate but instead creates a beguiling presence, whether introduced through a painted wall, art, accent furniture or home décor or acting as a bold accent in a pattern.”
CREDITS: All images are courtesy of Pantone, Huge (digital visuals) and Artechouse (immersive experience).
You can read some extra information in our last newsletter. Find out if our followers/readers like the shade or not (and the corresponding percentages), the evolution of Pantone’s color, or why they used a specific value-loaded image for the campaign. By signing up, you will have access to previous editions, too.
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9 Responses
Such a beautiful colour! Thank you for your awesome explanatory way. Encouraging!
You are very welcome:)
All the images with the lush pink flora (or fauna) is magenta, but the cover image is not! The real question is why would Pantone call magenta what is a essentially a shade of red. Maybe because at this point everyone knows that red evokes agression and primal instincts, so they’re trying to tone down the official message, while subconsicously people will be getting all of the effects being exposed to red color entails? Do we really need more of this in a time of a new world war, which isn’t going to end anytime soon? Plus, the cover image of a nose-less skull is pretty horrific as such.
The colour is beautiful, no doubt about that, but the context of it all is very disturbing imo.
¡Este post es un sol! Una explicación clara y detallada que no sólo nos informa sino que nos da herramientas para trabajar. Muchas gracias!
Mil gracias:)
Hej Gudy! Really great article, I love it, your website and blog are always so rich in content and inspiration! I have a question though about this article, connected with the part of inspiration from nature. It is not clear for me if Pantone team was looking for inspiration in nature connected with the color after or before having identify the color of the year. It Seems to me all inspiration came from the medias and trends and then they look what match this color in nature… Is that correct or? Gracias un abrazo
Hey Andrea, thanks for the kind words. This is a great question, and I can’t answer it, to be honest. But this is my guess: The current zeitgeist in society asked for a colour that represents three things: vibrancy (an optimistic push that will make us feel good and set a different mood when we need it), a connection to nature that represents strength (the beetle and it’s acidic that deters natural enemies) and a clear nod towards a fast-moving digital universe, hence the blue tint of Viva Magenta. My guess is all three things came together somehow during research leading to Viva Magenta. It’s not that they looked first towards a specific entity such as nature but collated all information from their colour experts to finally tell a compelling story.
Thank you Gudy! I guess that makes sense, hope to see you giving some trend speech in Sweden one day! :)
Nice! I’ll have my hair done in Viva Magenta!