Color of the Year: Classic Blue
An iconic name in the fashion, product, graphic design and lifestyle-oriented industries, Pantone is a symbol of the design-minded and has chosen the “color of the year” since 2000. They call themselves “the global authority on color.”
Definitions of a trend: a movement, a drift, disposition, inclination, or tendency. An attitude of mind especially one that favors one alternative over others.
A trend is what’s hip or popular at a certain point in time. While a trend usually refers to a certain style in fashion or pop culture, there can also be a trend in the stock market to be bullish or bearish, depending on economic indicators, or a political trend reflecting a nation’s current mood. Trends can be fun, fabulous, or awful, but however long they last, there is always the certainty of a new trend coming along to replace the old.
A color trend is a direction. It’s a developing awareness or an emerging preference for a color or several colors. Therefore, a color trend can change the way we think about a color and how we purchase consumer goods.
With each New Year comes a new color trend, and whether you’re a digital marketer, or a fashion designer, knowing these trends in advance is helpful for all design tasks. And it’s just not in the fashion realm where color is king: manufacturers in the automotive, home décor, consumer goods, materials, and even food industries use color trends. They use color trends in packaging, signage, product design, and more.
Saffron yellow… on the runway.
Color forecasting is the practice of predicting the colors that consumers will want to purchase in the near future. Color forecasting has existed in some form since the early 1800s. It started off simply, with books and commentary on the nature of certain colors and their psychological impact. Color forecasting has now expanded into an essential communication tool that color design professionals use to speak to the world around us.
Color forecasters are part designer, part sociologist and part predictor. They draw information from the runway, auto manufacturers and the housewares industry; they scour showrooms, trade shows and magazines for trends; they consider what’s happening culturally and how this impacts our national or international mood. Then they take all of that information and translate it into what colors we’ll be wearing and decorating within the next year.
Spring and Summer 2020 color trends
This year’s Spring and Summer 2020 color trends are considered “friendly and relatable” according to Pantone, in that they convey a sense of ease from bold fiery reds to classic blues, vivid saffron to unexpected aqua shades.
The Pantone Color Institute “is the division within Pantone that highlights the top seasonal runway colors, selects the Pantone Color of the Year, forecasts global color trends, and advises companies on color for product and brand visual identity.”
Pantone states that the Color of the Year is actually “…a color snapshot of what we see taking place in our global culture that serves as an expression of a mood and an attitude.” In short, Pantone chooses a color that reflects the current cultural climate.
Every day, more than 10 million designers and manufacturers work with Pantone to select, communicate, and approve colors, which are used for print, packaging, fashion and product design.
While Pantone may have made color forecasting a complete industry, paint companies come into play and release their own predictions somewhat based on the color groupings of Pantone and others.
“When we’re doing our research for the upcoming year, we’re looking at what colors and color families and combinations are standing out at industry events, and what we’re seeing in fashion and in the world through travelling,” explained Behr’s (Paints) color expert, Erika Woelfel.
Choosing the Benjamin Moore Color of the Year and Color Trends palette involves a yearlong observation of design, art, fashion, and environment and cultural influences the world-over. Months of domestic and international travel and research are involved. Common threads between diverse categories start to show up. One standout color of the year is chosen and the others come into play from there.
But how in the world does a company like Pantone select a single shade for Color of the Year?
Leatrice Eiseman of Pannetone color institute, touted as the foremost color authority alive, is quoted as saying:
You start to notice certain colors getting more attention in the fashion field [first]. We all travel a lot—those of us on the committee go to London and Paris and Milan, a lot of the major places where you see fashion on the street, and you see evidence of certain colors. We (also) look at new films coming up. What colors are being used? Is there a new effect being used? We look at the art world. Is there a collection of art that’s being shown? Is it traveling the world and going to get a lot of publicity? Will people be influenced by that?
We look at upcoming cars, (because) when you talk about technology, you have to look at the finishes on cars because they are light-years ahead in the technology they use to create those colors.
It’s not just the way the color stands alone but what you are using it with that makes it be perceived as something new and fresh.
In conclusion, the “Color of the Year” is a significant philosophical cultural event that generates a lot of media buzz and makes us look at a color in a new way.
Come and check out all our new Rossi products and colors at PaperWorld 2020, January 25-28, Frankfurt.
Paperworld: where all the trends and industry innovations come together in one place. Experience new ideas, designs and lifestyle product lines for the coming season at the world’s largest stationery marketplace.
