Life affirming coral hue energizes and enlivens with a softer edge
Pantone, provider of professional color standards and digital solutions for the design industry, announced in early December PANTONE 16-1546 Living Coral as the Pantone Color of the Year 2019, an animating and life-affirming shade of orange with a golden undertone. Germinder + Associates selected a Pantone Pink for our new brand in 2018 to celebrate our 20th Anniversary and more. We love it in all shades and plan to continue to celebrate our new hue in 2019, but we’ve always embraced the use of color to bring a cohesiveness to a corporate brand’s message across multiple products and multiple communications platforms. We thought it would be fun to share Pantone’s thought processes behind the Color of the Year process as they celebrate their own 20th anniversary of this initiative in 2019.
According to the release from Pantone, “We get energy from nature. Just as coral reefs are a source of sustenance and shelter to sea life, vibrant yet mellow PANTONE 16-1546 Living Coral embraces us with warmth and nourishment to provide comfort and buoyancy in our continually shifting environment.”
Pantone further explained the selection is in reaction to the onslaught of digital technology and social media increasingly embedding into daily life, people are seeking authentic and immersive experiences that enable connection and intimacy. Sociable and spirited, the engaging nature of PANTONE 16-1546 Living Coral welcomes and encourages lighthearted activity. Symbolizing our innate need for optimism and joyful pursuits, PANTONE 16-1546 Living Coral embodies our desire for playful expression.
Representing the fusion of modern life, PANTONE Living Coral is a nurturing color that appears in our natural surroundings and at the same time, displays a lively presence within social media. “Color is an equalizing lens through which we experience our natural and digital realities and this is particularly true for Living Coral,” said Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute. “With consumers craving human interaction and social connection, the humanizing and heartening qualities displayed by the convivial Pantone Living Coral hit a responsive chord.”
PANTONE 16-1546 Living Coral emits the desired, familiar and energizing aspects of color found in nature. In its glorious, yet unfortunately more elusive, display beneath the sea, this vivifying and effervescent color mesmerizes the eye and mind. Lying at the center of our naturally vivid and chromatic ecosystem, PANTONE Living Coral is evocative of how coral reefs provide shelter to a diverse kaleidoscope of color.
“Color enhances and influences the way we experience life,” said Laurie Pressman, Vice President of the Pantone Color Institute. “As a shade that affirms life through a dual role of energizing and nourishing, PANTONE 16-1546 Living Coral reinforces how colors can embody our collective experience and reflect what is taking place in our global culture at a moment in time.”
Here is how Pantone sees the color playing out….
In Social Media
An organic shade, Living Coral is striking in digital mediums, evoking the same inspirational feeling ignited by our natural surroundings. Living Coral’s vibrancy and buoyancy captivates our attention in social media and digital design.
In Fashion and Accessories
Living Coral inspires experimentation and playful expression in both men’s and women’s street and runway styles. The warm shade suggests comfort and positivity in simple color stories, but becomes more explorative and effervescent in patterns, textures and even monochrome looks. An appealing accent shade, PANTONE Living Coral provides a striking contrast across the color spectrum.
In Beauty
As a life-affirming hue that complements all skin tones, PANTONE Living Coral brings natural color to beauty in blush, eye and lip. Uninhibited, playful looks are also emboldened by Living Coral, which, as the center of a kaleidoscope of color, encourages experimentation in beauty with palettes, textures, shimmers and sheens.
In Product Design
Living Coral is naturally suited for product across all ages and genders. Materials with texture and convivial colors such as PANTONE 16-1546 Living Coral appeal to our desire for products exhibiting humanizing and heartening characteristics.
In Interior Décor and Furnishings
When used as a bold statement in settings and décor, Living Coral fosters immersive experiences such as pop-up installations and interactive spaces, tied to a playful spirit. As a color linked to tactility and human connection, PANTONE Living Coral in shag rugs, cozy blankets and lush upholsteries create a warm, comforting and nurturing feeling in the home. With its ebullient nature, PANTONE Living Coral adds a dramatic pop of color to any room setting whether in decorative accessories, tabletop, or on the wall.
In Packaging Design
Living Coral is naturally ideal for packaging applications. Warm and welcoming, this life affirming shade invites us to reach out and touch.
About the Pantone Color of the Year
The Color of the Year selection process requires thoughtful consideration and trend analysis. To arrive at the selection each year, Pantone’s color experts at the Pantone Color Institute comb the world looking for new color influences. This can include the entertainment industry and films in production, traveling art collections and new artists, fashion, all areas of design, popular travel destinations, as well as new lifestyles, playstyles, and socio-economic conditions. Influences may also stem from new technologies, materials, textures, and effects that impact color, relevant social media platforms and even up-coming sporting events that capture worldwide attention. For 20 years, Pantone’s Color of the Year has influenced product development and purchasing decisions in multiple industries, including fashion, home furnishings, and industrial design, as well as product, packaging and graphic design. Past selections for Color of the Year include:
- PANTONE 18-3838 Ultra Violet (2018)
- PANTONE 15-0343 Greenery (2017)
- PANTONE 15-3919 Serenity and PANTONE 13-1520 Rose Quartz (2016)
- PANTONE 18-1438 Marsala (2015)
- PANTONE 18-3224 Radiant Orchid (2014)
- PANTONE 17-5641 Emerald (2013)
- PANTONE 17-1463 Tangerine Tango (2012)
- PANTONE 18-2120 Honeysuckle (2011)
- PANTONE 15-5519 Turquoise (2010)
- PANTONE 14-0848 Mimosa (2009)
- PANTONE 18-3943 Blue Iris (2008)
- PANTONE 19-1557 Chili Pepper (2007)
- PANTONE 13-1106 Sand Dollar (2006)
- PANTONE 15-5217 Blue Turquoise (2005)
- PANTONE 17-1456 Tigerlily (2004)
- PANTONE 14-4811 Aqua Sky (2003)
- PANTONE 19-1664 True Red (2002)
- PANTONE 17-2031 Fuchsia Rose (2001)
- PANTONE 15-4020 Cerulean (2000)
The color selected as the Pantone Color of the Year 2019 was taken from the Pantone Fashion, Home + Interiors Color System, the most widely used and recognized color standards system for fashion, textile, home, and interior design.
Here’s to Living Coral and Happy Anniversary Pantone!
