Trends

Here Is Pantone’s New Color of the Year

TrendsDec 10, 2021

Here Is Pantone’s New Color of the Year

When the color institute couldn’t find the perfect shade for 2022, it created a new one.

20211210_Pantone header.jpg
Pantone’s 2022 Color of the Year is “Very Peri,” a periwinkle blue hue with violet-red undertones.
Carlstadt, N.J.—The Pantone Color Institute has a treasure trove of hues to choose from when selecting its annual Color of the Year.

This year, though, it created a new color from scratch, a first for the company since it began the Color of the Year program in 1999.

The Color of the Year for 2022 is “Very Peri,” a periwinkle blue hue with violet-red undertones.

“Blending the faithfulness and constancy of blue with the energy and excitement of red, this happiest and warmest of all the blue hues introduces an empowering mix of newness,” said Pantone in a press release about its selection.

Color experts at Pantone pick the Color of the Year, looking to everything from entertainment and films to art collections and travel destinations for inspiration. 

“For our team involved in the selection, it’s not an arbitrary decision where we decide the color by gazing at a crystal ball, hoping that inspiration hits. And in fact, it’s quite the contrary,” said Laurie Pressman, vice president of Pantone, during a media call Thursday.

“This is a process that goes on all year long and entails thoughtful consideration and trend analysis. It’s a culmination of all the macrolevel trend forecasting and research that our team involved with the Pantone Color Institute conducts year-round that informs the selection.”

The color reflects the innovation and transformation taking place, said Pressman.

“As society continues to recognize color as a critical form of communication and as a way to express and affect ideas and emotions and engage and connect, the complexity of this new red-violet-infused blue hue highlights the expansive possibilities that lie before us,” she said.

Very Peri evokes confidence and curiosity, said Pantone, bolstering a creative spirit as the new year approaches.

 Related stories will be right here … 

“As we move into a world of unprecedented change, the selection of Pantone 17-3938 Very Peri brings a novel perspective and vision of the trusted and beloved blue color family,” said Pantone Executive Director Leatrice Eiseman. 

“Encompassing the qualities of the blues, yet at the same time possessing a violet-red undertone, Pantone 17-3938 Very Peri displays a spritely, joyous attitude and dynamic presence that encourages courageous creativity and imaginative expression.”


Pantone described the color as “a symbol of the global zeitgeist of the moment and the transition we are going through.”

The pandemic has hastened the merging of people’s physical and digital lives, said Pantone, highlighting the rise of the artistic community in the digital space.

The new color showcases the meshing of modern life and how digital trends are coming to fruition in the physical world and vice versa.

Pantone highlighted how its new shade could lend itself to apparel and fashion accessories, noting how the color takes on different looks depending on how it’s applied, the material used, and the finishes and textures of a piece.

To make it official, the color will be added to the Pantone Fashion, Home + Interiors Color System, which is a widely used color standards system for fashion, textile, home, and interior design.

Branching out into the digital space, the company has teamed up with Microsoft to bring the color to its products, creating custom Teams backgrounds, Windows wallpapers, a new Edge theme, and a PowerPoint template.

Pantone also partnered with Artechhouse NYC, an art space located in a 100-year-old boiler room beneath Chelsea Market, using the space as the official backdrop of its Color of the Year announcement.

The art space will hold an exhibition, open to the public, about the color in 2022.

The company also collaborated with blockchain network Tezos and Paris-based artist Polygon1993 to bring the color to the digital art world.

Polygon1993 will use the color in artwork, available through a collection of NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, on the Tezos blockchain.

For more information on the Pantone Color of the Year for 2022, visit Pantone’s website.

 Related stories will be right here …

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