Every December for the past 16 years, Pantone has unveiled its Color of the Year, setting the tone for trends in fashion, design, and branding. From bold hues like Fuschia Rose to subdued shades like Sand Dollar, Pantone’s color choices aim to encapsulate the visual and emotional spirit of the upcoming year. While the selection process may seem mysterious, a closer look reveals that there are discernible patterns at play. MK Sports explores two key ideas that help predict Pantone’s next color of the year.
The Role of Pantone’s Color Choices in Branding
Color plays an integral role in shaping the identity of brands and industries worldwide. Pantone’s annual selections are more than just trendy colors—they are carefully chosen reflections of the cultural, economic, and societal zeitgeist. As Leatrice Eiseman, the executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, explains, the selection committee pays close attention to trends across industries, including fashion, entertainment, and even food, to identify the hues that will resonate with the public in the coming year.
Pantone colors have a ripple effect, influencing branding, product design, and even consumer purchasing decisions. Whether it’s an uplifting Daman Game color like Tigerlily or a grounded tone like Marsala, Pantone’s colors are meant to reflect the collective mood, making color forecasting both an art and a science.
The Eight-Year Cycle: Recognizing Repeating Color Patterns
One of the first patterns we can observe in Pantone’s color selections is the recurrence of similar colors every eight years. For example, the two bold blues, Cerulean (2000) and Blue Iris (2008), share tonal similarities despite the years between them. Similarly, the vibrant oranges Tigerlily (2004) and Tangerine Tango (2012) highlight a repetition of warmer tones.
This cyclical pattern is particularly useful for industries with longer product lifecycles, such as automotive and home furnishings. Color trends that recur every eight years offer brands the chance to update their designs while maintaining harmony with previous releases. The selection of Marsala in 2015, with its rich, wine-brown tone, followed a similar pattern, offering a counterpart to Chili Pepper (2007), which was the last color to feature significant black undertones.
By understanding this eight-year cycle, we can make informed guesses about upcoming colors. If we’re due for a repeat of a tone, whether it’s a bold primary or a moody neutral, the historical cycle offers clues for what might come next.
Triangulating the Color Wheel: A Scientific Approach
Another reliable method for predicting Pantone’s choices is to look at how colors triangulate around the color wheel. Pantone rarely picks directly opposite colors from one year to the next, favoring instead hues that rotate around the wheel in a triangulated relationship. This ensures harmony between consecutive years, while still offering fresh color choices.
For example, in the early 2000s, Pantone moved from the pale blue of Aqua Sky (2003) to the bold orange of Tigerlily (2004), and then back to a blue-green shade with Blue Turquoise (2005). This triangular movement between colors kept the selections fresh, while still maintaining a cohesive flow from year to year.
In 2006, Pantone introduced Sand Dollar, a neutral beige tone. While it appeared out of step with the vibrant colors preceding it, Sand Dollar was chosen for its subtle alignment with both Tigerlily and Blue Turquoise. It shared enough tonal components to remain harmonious, while offering something distinct and new for a year that required a more subdued palette.
This pattern of triangulating around the color wheel allows Pantone to avoid the monotony of jumping between simple complementary colors and instead creates a dynamic interplay between the hues selected each year. By looking at how past selections have rotated around the wheel, we can better anticipate the direction the committee may take in the future.
Combining the Two Ideas for Color Prediction
With these two patterns in mind—the eight-year cycle and the triangulation of the color wheel—we can begin to predict future Pantone colors with more accuracy. Both approaches provide valuable insights, allowing us to make predictions based on historical trends and the science of color relationships.
For 2016, two color predictions stand out based on these patterns:
- Peacock Blue (16-4278): If 2016 is forecasted to be an optimistic year, we could see a return to a bold blue, similar to past selections like Cerulean and Blue Iris. This vibrant, regal hue offers a sense of clarity and positivity, reflecting a hope-filled outlook.
- Porpoise (15-3800): If the mood is more somber, Porpoise, a cool gray with blue undertones, could be the choice. Its subdued, calming tone would echo the emotional tone of colors like Ultimate Gray from previous years, signaling a year of introspection and quiet strength.
