The Pantone Color Institute announced that Greenery 15-0343 has earned the spot as the color of the year for 2017.
A lush, but tame green is perhaps a response to a painful 2016, full of political turmoil and uncertainty about what’s to come for the environment. The colors that are considered notable by the Pantone Color Institute make appearances on fashion, and home and product design. The tradition has been carried out since 1999 as a way to allow people to connect with emotions that are associated with specific colors.
“It’s a realization for many people. This country is politically divided, and we see that around the world. It’s not just us. There’s a real division in terms of globalization and this desire to pull back from globalization. It’s Brexit. It’s what we just saw in Italy,” stated Laurie Pressman, Pantone Color Institue’s vice president.
A color for the future
The Pantone Color of the Year is a symbolic selection or a freeze frame of what is perceived that is occurring in the world as a sum of its attitude and place in time.
Greenery is present in the new plants that sprout on spring, while also making appearances on suffrage movements of the early 20th century. It is a color associated with exploration and boldness, with finding new ground through the refining process of what already exists. Just like nature, “greenery” represents evolution and reinvention. In home decor, it is associated with vast windows and hills, evoking the sensation of touching a mossy rock or stepping on a lush, green prairie.
The color of 2017 is recommended by Pantone on the following compositions:
Greenery is proposed by Pantone as “nature’s neutral,” which is craved by people who become immersed in modern life, yearning for beauty in nature and feeling close to the natural world. The existence of Greenery in products and design applications will evoke these sensations, which makes it an ideal color choice for agriculture and home decoration.
“A constant on the periphery, Greenery is now being pulled to the forefront – it is an omnipresent hue around the world. A life-affirming shade, Greenery is also emblematic of the pursuit of personal passions and vitality,” reads Pantone’s statement on the decision.
Pantone is a subsidiary of X-Rite and it is considered the world-renowned authority on color, assisting professionals in the areas of design and technology. The company was founded back in 1963 by Lawerence Herbert, who devised a system to match colors, producing accurate color schemes and publishing them in a comprehensive book known as the Pantone Matching System.
Source: Pantone