‘Classic Blue’ Pantone’s colour of year
The people at Pantone Color Institute know that times are hard.
“Many of us feel anxious, completely overloaded and perpetually stressed,” the colour company said in a recent presentation.
The antidote, according to Pantone’s swatch psychologists? Blue. Specifically: Classic Blue.
For the 21st consecutive year, Pantone has named a colour of the year, a trend-forecasting stunt as closely watched by the news media as it is by the industries — marketing, fashion, design — that actually traffic in visual trends.
The blue of 2020 is not Cerulean (the company’s first pick, back in 2000),
Aqua Sky (2003), Blue Turquoise (2005), Blue Iris (2008) nor Serenity (which shared the 2016 title with Rose Quartz). It’s Classic Blue, a darker, more familiar shade than its cyanic siblings.
“Classic Blue is the colour of blueberries, a Pepsi can and the sky when it’s that beautiful colour at the end of the day,” said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone, which researches and advises companies on human responses to colour.
In choosing Classic Blue, the institute said it first examined what was going on in the world.
“We’re living in this time now where things seem to be, around the world, a little bit, I don’t want to use the word unstable, but let’s just say a little shaky,” said Laurie Pressman, the vice president of Pantone. “Nothing is absolutely certain from one moment to the next.”
Pantone wouldn’t get too specific about why people feel “shaky.”
Political unrest seemed an obvious source of the tremors, but, Pressman said, “we weren’t looking at this as a political message.” The decision wasn’t about impeachment or the election or Brexit. It also wasn’t a sly endorsement of the blue Democratic Party.
Rather, the institute has pinned the world’s anxiety and stress on a more common enemy: technology.
“It has sped things up to the point where we can’t necessarily handle all that’s coming in,” Eiseman said.
Classic Blue “provides a refuge,” according to Pantone, fulfilling a “desire for a dependable, stable foundation.”
Classic Blue is “non-aggressive,” “easily relatable” and “honest.”
One thing Classic Blue is not: sad. “Despite centuries of artists and writers using blue to represent melancholy, young people don’t associate blue with sadness anymore,’’ Eiseman said. “I think that’s kind of an older generation reaction.”
For the first time, Pantone’s announcement comes with multi-sensory bonuses. The institute is releasing music inspired by Classic Blue — an electro-pop track called Vivid Nostalgia — as well as a berry tea and velvety fabric.
(The music is free; the tea will be available for purchase; custom furniture made with the fabric can be ordered.)