With the new year lurking round the corner, the Pantone Colour Institute has come up with its own conception of the colour of the year. It has announced that its 2020 Colour of the Year is PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue, a deep blue shade that’s at once comforting and jarring. The indigo blue that covers the sky at dusk is a metaphor for change. It signifies a transitional phase that leads the day to its end. Hence it can also be looked upon as a colour of the future. “It’s a color that anticipates what’s going to happen next,” said Laurie Pressman, the vice president of the Pantone Color Institute, which selects the Color of the Year. “What’s the future going to bring as we move into the evening hours?” This is a pertinent question as we go on to herald a new decade. “We were moving into Y2K and wondering: Is the world going to fall apart?” said Pressman.
The Pantone Color Institute said it recognized similar feelings of instability gripping the world today, from the United States to the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Syria and across the globe. Hence it settled on a shade that reflects a sense of calm and confidence suitable for an emotionally wretched populace.
“Imbued with a deep resonance, Classic Blue provides an anchoring foundation,” Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute. “A boundless blue evocative of the vast and infinite evening sky, Classic Blue encourages us to look beyond the obvious to expand our thinking; challenging us to think more deeply, increase our perspective and open the flow of communication.”
For those who want to sport the 2020 color, Pressman recommends Classic Blue accent pieces such as a scarf or watch strap, or a vase or candle for your home or workplace.
The company claimed that during its global research effort, Classic Blue could be seen popping up in field as diverse as the art market, the beauty industry, automotive manufacturing, tech and even outer space. Pantone’s choice of colour is aligned with interior design’s gradual return to traditional decorating styles.
“The more you talk about it, the more you realise how intrinsic color is in our psyches,” Eiseman reflects. “I mean, my husband’s barber wanted to know what the color of the year was.”
Pantone was founded in the 1950s as the printing company in New York but is now based in Carlstadt, New Jersey. Since 2000, it has chosen a colour of the year decided from trend-forecasting research performed by the Pantone Color Institute.
The annual colour, which is announced each December, is chosen based on “what is taking place in our global culture at a moment in time”.
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