Pantone goes bold with its Color of the Year
Its assertive Viva Magenta ‘galvanizes our spirit’ and helps ‘build our inner strength’
Pantone, the company that creates and guides color as we see it in many consumer goods, takes a big view on color as it announces its 2023 Color of the Year — Viva Magenta, a bright carmine red — with plans for an immersive art experience by ARTECHOUSE during Art Basel in Miami Beach, Fla.
Pantone’s announcement is full of high-energy adjectives to describe its bold choice — “pulsating,” “fearless,” “electrifying” and “witty” — but the best explanation is that Viva Magenta is a strong, bright red that is inspired by the red of cochineal, a precious natural dye that is one of the strongest and brightest around. This red is nobody’s wallflower.
The added fanfare of the art experience, another partnership with home goods e-commerce site Spoonflower for unique designs by six Spoonflower independent artists and even a plan for home fitness manufacturer Hydrow to make its Wave
Rower in a special-edition Pantoneviva Magenta sets Pantone’s effort above other color of the year announcements so far.
Those started back in August, with Valspar announcing a 12-color palette that included five shades of blue-green, followed by HGTV Home by Sherwinwilliams picking Darkroom. Later that month, Glidden and PPG jointly announced they’d chosen Vining Ivy as their picks for 2023.
In September, Sherwinwilliams and Better Homes & Gardens both chose softcolor neutrals as their 2023 Color of the Year. Sherwinwilliams went with blushbeige Redend Point and BH&G chose the soft terracotta Canyon Ridge. In October, Benjamin Moore chose the vivid red-orange Raspberry Blush as its top pick for next year.
Pantone has always been considered a leader in color language, establishing color recipes that others use. In choosing Viva Magenta, an assertive color it describes as “manifestly out there,” Pan
tone suggests that this color will lead us into a new kind of world that is part real and part virtual.
“The last few years were transformative in many ways, in terms of people’s sense of self and the way well-being, priorities and identity are being thought about,” said Laurie Pressman, vice president of the Pantone Color Institute. “As a result, space has been created where we are free to explore and be accepted for exactly who we feel we are, whether it be in a cybernetic universe, a conventional space, or a magical blend of both.”
Taking a step into the virtual world itself, Pantone is working with Huge to create a design experiment — an AI “Magentaverse” to explore the relationship between technology and human creativity.
“As virtual worlds become a more prominent part of our daily lives, we look to draw inspiration from nature and what is real,” said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute. “Rooted in the primordial, ‘Viva Magenta’ reconnects us to original matter. Invoking the forces of nature, it galvanizes our spirit, helping us to build our inner strength.”