2021 Pantone Color of the Year
Long awaited, the 2021 Pantone Color of the Year has finally made its debut. In fact, this tradition has been an influential part of society for the past two decades, persuading purchasing choices across industries, graphic design layouts, interior design choices, painting trends, and even product development and packaging decisions. The Pantone Color of the Year is carefully selected and is a culmination of trend analyses and thorough research. Many factors affect this selection, and color experts wade through worldwide trends in color schemes and influences to come up with the Pantone Color of the Year.
Since interior design and remodeling projects have soared during the coronavirus pandemic, Pantone’s Color of the Year reflects a unique and symbolic painting trend that pairs two contrasting yet complimentary colors: Ultimate Gray and Illuminating.
Ultimate Gray
The selection of Ultimate Gray can be seen as a direct reflection of life in lockdown. For example, gray can be viewed as drab, neutral, and indicative of sameness. However, its neutrality and dependability can also bring a sense of comfort. When all else in society has fallen apart, the same, strict routine that has pervaded life in lockdown has provided for some a sense of predictability.
Illuminating
The hand-picked color of yellow for the 2021 Pantone Color of the Year is symbolic of illumination, or light, at the end of a dark, long year. In other words, it symbolizes hope, renewal, and an exciting and bright future that is yet to come. Its warmth shows the post-pandemic possibilities, where lockdowns are no more, and the world can not only return to a sense of normalcy but begin to thrive in a new and hopeful way. Illuminating dares us to dream again.
The careful selection of the 2021 Pantone Color of the Year has yielded Ultimate Gray and Illuminating. These colors make separate, as well as interconnected statements, and are a direct reflection of the human condition surrounding quarantine and the coronavirus pandemic. While gray offers dependability, neutrality, and sameness, yellow offers hope, renewal, and a sense of brighter things to come.
