Purple Reigns

Prince would have approved of Ultra Violet, a blue-shifted purple and Colour of the Year as ordained by Pantone. But how does the global colour authority decide which hue should be the new black? Tan Xi Voon tries to figure it out

Every december, publishers, designers, retailers, merchandisers and many consumer-oriented companies wait with bated breath for the announcement of the Pantone Colour Institute. It is almost a tradition. Since 2000 when it first appointed Cerulean Blue as the Colour of the Year, Pantone has quickly risen to be the arbiter of colour forecasting, with its annual colour pick embraced across industries worldwide. Cynic or not, some have criticised the Pantone Colour of the Year as merely a sales gimmick. Undeniably, it has led to greater economical profits for the organisation and those that climb on its bandwagon. Long recognised for its contribution towards colour standardisation, the Pantone colour chips, charts, swatch cards and other tools that were once used by printers and designers only, are now favoured by a mass of design-minded individuals and tastemakers. Naturally, its eponymous lifestyle product range and campaign partnerships with other distinctive brands like Sephora, Adobe and Airbnb also serve to further capitalise on itself. But whether Pantone is plotting some ‘evil’ scheme to get our money remains questionable. The bigger, more frequently asked question however, is this: how does Pantone actually choose its Colour of the Year? Not throwing a dart and see which colour it lands on, apparently. Neither is it simply data driven. The truth is, the process of singling out one shade from the thousands is really more complex and qualitative than one might imagine. Building upon their foundational knowledge of consumer preferences and colour psychology, the Pantone Colour Institute’s in-house team of experts studies the new influences that are emerging across various platforms and regions. This may