Does Pantone’s COTY Mean Anything to You?

Project 365, Day 8

Here’s a question for you design-heads out there: When Pantone releases its Color of the Year (COTY for shorthand) at the end of December, do you…care? I remember a few years back when I was Design Editor at Apartment Therapy, and that COTY post announcement…ooooh boy was it a traffic driver. People stood by for it with breaths bated. But I could never figure out if it was purely out of curiosity, a yearly ritual they waited to partake of, or whether it actually did anything for them creatively or mentally.

For me personally, I’m happy to acknowledge the impact of Pantone and what its annual decision signifies. I know from reading all their press releases over the years that they aren’t attempting to proclaim a trend (though they always say the COTY influences decisions on a buying level across industries…I could see that being on that I’m on the manufacturer side now). Their picks always speak to the zeitgeist at large, on a cultural level more so than actual design. But that’s not to say the Color of the Year is solely some symbol of hope for the year to come.

Back in 2016, when Pantone selected Rose Quartz and Serenity, the color blush exploded. Maybe it was perfectly timed, coincidently (??) with “millennial pink” and the re-birth of everything rosy and flesh-toned, but I’m pretty certain it drove a great part of that megatrend.

This year is another duo: Ultimate Gray and Illuminating. A neutral, rock-like gray and a lemony yellow. When I saw the news come through my inbox, I thought “didn’t gray and yellow as a combo happen like nine or 10 years ago?” Again, my brain still stuck in trend world, full well knowing that’s not where this comes from. Here’s a statement from Pantone about the pick:

“Emboldening the spirit, the pairing of PANTONE 17-5104 Ultimate Gray + PANTONE 13-0647 highlights our innate need to be seen, to be visible, to be recognized, to have our voices heard. A combination of color whose ties to insight, innovation and intuition, and respect for wisdom, experience, and intelligence inspires regeneration, pressing us forward toward new ways of thinking and concepts.”

I mean, I like the sound of that, certainly. It 100% speaks to the movement, momentum of social justice and the happenings across 2020, but I also know, as a writer, you can always make something out of nothing as long as you have an end game.

Let’s step away from the “why” of this, however nice it all sounds, and just get down to it from a design perspective: do you even care about the Color of the Year, and what are your thoughts on this year’s set? Yellow I can get down with, though not this shade in particular. Ochre and mustard, something earthier, more grounded, is what I’ve been into the last year or so. A simple lemony shade can be fun in the right application, certainly, but I don’t think I’m quite over the gray wave of the last decade+. Are we all going to start painting everything stone and silver again? I’m all about everyone doing what they love—I’ve written many times about how I hate trends for the sake of being trendy—but I’m not ready to go back there yet. I suppose no one is asking me to.

Thoughts? Questions? Concerns? Ambivilance?

Would love for you to scratch my mental itch of always wondering how much the Color of the Year meant or influenced those of you outside the press (i.e. people like me who were forced to write about it every which way to reach their monthly page view goals and whatnot because it always “hit”). Are you seeing this now (or every year) and thinking “huh, that’s fine” then going back to sipping your coffee unphased, or does it make you stop and think “wait…yellow and gray, I’m going to try that?” Or is it more of a slow trickle? Maybe you don’t even know about COTY, but find yourself influenced by it through other avenues down the line of the year? Truly just curious. Indulge me, if you please.

See you tomorrow, friends.

Featured image via Pantone.com