Every year, color experts and trend forecasters analyze cultural influences, upcoming events, and consumer preferences to predict a Color of the Year that will resonate with people worldwide. The selection is meant to capture the zeitgeist and reflect broader societal shifts that are expected to shape design, fashion, marketing, and purchasing decisions in the coming year. This high-profile annual announcement generates significant buzz in multiple industries as companies aim to be ahead of the curve by embracing colors expected to be popular across product categories. But how exactly is each year’s defining shade determined? The detailed, thoughtful process reveals key insights about color psychology, forecasting methodologies, and the interconnected realms of art, culture, science, nature, and technology.
Pantone Color of the Year
One of the most well-known and influential annual color pronouncements comes from the Pantone Color Institute, the consulting subsidiary of Pantone LLC that forecasts global color trends across all creative industries. Since 2000, the Institute has chosen a yearly Color of the Year that it believes communicates the upcoming zeitgeist. The selection process takes about nine months and draws upon socio-economic conditions, entertainment and sports influences, art, fashion, design, science, and technology innovations, travel destinations, cross-cultural studies, materials research, as well as complexity theory and mathematical modeling.
Pantone analysts comb the world looking for color influences and inspiration by attending major trade shows, art exhibits, retail stores, and fashion shows. They track how colors are crossing over across industries, what shades are rising in popularity, and new color innovations. The Institute cites Pantone Color IQ studies and data analytics to detect patterns and changes in color preference across geographic regions. Consultants interview thought leaders in many different sectors around the world to understand what colors are likely to resonate and reflect the global mood.
All of this research is synthesized to narrow down the selection to a final Color of the Year that Pantone believes communicates the essence of the upcoming period. The Institute calls the choice a “color snapshot of what we see taking place in our culture that serves as an expression of a mood and an attitude.” The shade is meant to reflect “what people are looking for that color can hope to answer.” In this way, Color of the Year is about much more than just a pretty pigment – it represents deeper desires, aspirations, attitudes, and thought patterns.
Recent Pantone Colors of the Year
Here are the Pantone Colors of the Year for the past five years:
| Year | Color | Color Name | RGB Values |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Living Coral | 213, 43, 30 | |
| 2020 | Classic Blue | 104, 119, 130 | |
| 2021 | Ultimate Gray & Yellow Illuminating | 74, 20, 140 & 251, 211, 41 | |
| 2022 | Very Peri | 196, 88, 9 | |
| 2023 | Viva Magenta | 180, 98, 0 |
Psychology Behind the Selections
Looking at these recent examples provides insight into the psychological factors behind the choice each year. Living Coral was meant to embody joy and playfulness as an antidote to ongoing societal tensions. The blue Classic Blue evoked a sense of stability, confidence, and connection amid uncertainty. With the world in crisis, Pantone chose two Colors of the Year for 2021 – Ultimate Gray to express resilience and Yellow Illuminating to offer hope. As society envisioned emerging from isolation, Very Peri represented curiosity and exploration of new frontiers. And the bold Viva Magenta aims to empower people to create their own realities as old systems are reimagined.
Criticisms and Controversies
While many in the design world eagerly anticipate the Color of the Year reveal and manufacturers quickly adopt the shade across product lines, Pantone’s selections are not without controversy. Some feel that always choosing a single color does not reflect real-world complexity and mutability. Critics argue that the promotion of an “it” color encourages homogenization rather than individuality and undermines meaningful color exploration. There are also concerns that the commercial focus pushes constant change for its own sake rather than purposeful evolution. Others note that the announcement typically benefits Pantone’s brand awareness more than accurately predicting trends. And Pantone faces ongoing criticism for lack of diversity in its color naming and frequent focus on bold rather than neutral hues that complement diverse skin tones. Still, the Institute maintains that the Color of the Year occasions important conversations about the psychology of color and its role in society.
Color Forecasting at Other Companies
Beyond Pantone, many other major companies in the design world also announce an annual Color of the Year that they believe will rise in relevance.
Sherwin-Williams
Since 2016, paint manufacturer Sherwin-Williams has announced its own Color of the Year. Their team of color experts similarly analyze trends across culture, art, travel, entertainment, environments, materials, and innovations. But with a specific focus on architectural and interior design color palettes, Sherwin-Williams places more emphasis on subtle, nature-inspired hues. Recent picks include Poised Taupe (2016), Alabaster (2020), and Evergreen Fog (2023).
Benjamin Moore
Benjamin Moore’s Color of the Year also focuses on home decor trends. But their selections often feature more saturated accent shades like Caliente AF-290 (2018), First Light 2102-70 (2020), and Raspberry Blush 2106-30 (2022) alongside recommended complementary palettes. Their process balances consumer preferences, color popularity data, cultural influence monitoring, and expert forecasting.
Valspar
Paint and coating brand Valspar takes yet another approach by crowdsourcing ideas for their yearly color. Consumers submit suggestions along with photos showing color inspirations from their lives. Valspar’s color experts then analyze the submissions to detect key themes and directions to inform the final choice. Recent picks like Evergreen Fog (2021), Gilded Light (2022), and Patagonia (2023) reflect nature-inspired hues and tone-on-tone elegance.
HGTV Home
Lifestyle brand HGTV takes a social-first approach to selecting their annual HGTV Home Color of the Year. Data scientists mine social media conversations around color and design to identify trends. Content creators then photograph a palette of potential colors in lifestyle settings and conduct consumer surveys and focus groups to narrow down the options before landing on a Color of the Year. Recent selections include Greenstone (2021), Blush Bordello (2022), and Dark Roasted (2023).
Color and Culture
Whether crowdsourced or selected by experts, the Color of the Year practice highlights the intimate link between color and culture. Sociologist Grant McCracken’s theory of the cultural meaning of color describes how colors absorb associations based on the times and adopt “color meanings” specific to cultural contexts. Annual color pronouncements both seek to predict and influence these shifting color associations based on social conditions, values, lifestyles, and events. Psychologist Carl Jung also examined the psychology of color and proposed a collective unconscious from which universal color associations emerge across cultures, like red signifying vitality or green representing growth. Current color trend analysis shows that warmer, nature-inspired hues are rising in response to technological overload, climate change, and the search for meaning and community. The desire for muted, complementary palettes also underscores growing diversity and gender equality by avoiding stereotypical color-gender norms. In these ways, color forecasting spotlights how color conveys cultural identity, mood, and values.
Conclusion
The annual tradition of announcing a Color of the Year offers intriguing insight into the complex, constantly evolving relationship between color and society. While some critique the practice as superficial trend-chasing, the thoughtful analysis required to forecast upcoming color directions reflects deep connections between color, psychology, and culture. Examining recent color selections and forecasting methodologies exposes how color contains layers of meaning tied to societal conditions, attitudes, identities, aesthetics, and aspirations. The year-long process draws upon color theory, art and design history, materials science, data analytics, consumer research, and semiotic analyses to determine which hue will resonate in the coming period. Regardless of controversy, Color of the Year announcements highlight the captivating, cross-disciplinary nature of color and provide a snapshot of what societies value during specific cultural moments.
