As the New Year approaches, many of us are starting to think about the new: we're contemplating our resolutions and focusing on change.
New Year, new you. And this year, Pantone's color of the year reflects this.
What is color of the year?
Every year Pantone (the "world-renowned authority on color and provider of color systems") makes a symbolic color selection. This color of the year is what they consider "a color snapshot of what we see taking place in our global culture that serves as an expression of a mood and an attitude."
This year, the color swatch is PANTONE 15-0343, or Greenery.
Greenery is symbolic of new beginnings.
Depending on where you live, winter might have already reared its frigid head. And while the weather outside may be rather frightful (or just dull, grey, and gloomy), with Greenery comes bright promises of spring. It's a reminder of the beauty of nature; it's the much needed breath of fresh air to get us through the impending long winter nights.
The color green is nature's neutral; green is a part of earth. It's the color of plants and spring--revival, restoration, growth.
Green is the color of go.
This "fresh and zesty yellow-green shade" is a reminder of what lies beyond the inside of modern life. Greenery, in its status as color of the year, is meant to supply the need for the fresh and natural amid a rather less desirable environment--and year.
2016 was, for many, a year full of political, social, and environmental turmoil. Greenery symbolically offers 2017 an escape from such tumult.
Greenery is more than just a color--it's an immersion into the physical beauty and inherent unity of the natural world.
Though Greenery is far step away from what we might consider traditional neutral colors (think beige, ivory, grey, taupe, brown, etc), Pantone highlights its versatility among numerous color palettes. It can be paired with neutrals for that fun "pop" of color; it can be paired with fellow brights; deep, rich shades; dial it back with pastels; or even funky metallics.
Whether you want to reconnect with nature, or brighten up you "neutral" December, it seems a safe bet to say that Greenery is going to find its way beyond the paint buckets and into the realm of fashion, beauty, and graphic design.
