Pantone (private), a color consulting company, has been choosing a new color of the year since 2000, and each year this color is meant to represent the design trends and cultural mood for the upcoming year.
2018’s color has been selected, and it’s called Ultra Violet.
What does Ultra Violet mean? According to Pantone, it means that 2018 is going to be all about ambition and forward-thinking, artistry and creativity, existentialism and the cosmos.
“We are living in a time that requires inventiveness and imagination. It is this kind of creative inspiration that is indigenous to PANTONE 18-3838 Ultra Violet, a blue-based purple that takes our awareness and potential to a higher level,” said Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute. “From exploring new technologies and the greater galaxy, to artistic expression and spiritual reflection, intuitive Ultra Violet lights the way to what is yet to come.”
The color is meant to pull from musical icons such as Prince, David Bowie, and Jimi Hendrix, representing “counterculture, unconventionality, and artistic brilliance.” The color is “dramatically provocative and thoughtful” and should communicate the “originality, ingenuity, and visionary thinking that points us towards the future,” said Eiseman.
Image source – adweek.com
Inspiration has also been drawn from nature. “The vast and limitless night sky is symbolic of what is possible and continues to inspire the desire to pursue a world beyond our own,” continued Eiseman.
We will no doubt start seeing Ultra Violet popping up on the runways and in commercial stores. Laurie Pressman, Vice President of Pantone, said, “As individuals around the world become more fascinated with color and realize its ability to convey deep messages and meanings, designers and brands should feel empowered to use color to inspire and influence.”
Nobody can really say for sure what 2018 will bring, but one thing’s for sure, our world just got a little more violet – Ultra Violet that is.
Featured Image: twitter
