Pantone Color of the Year 2020

Article by Dr. Amanda Garcia, CEO & Creative Director

The Pantone Institute identifies PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue as “instilling calm, confidence, and connection, this enduring blue hue highlights our desire for a dependable and stable foundation on which to build as we cross the threshold into a new era.”

The origins of the color we accept today as ‘blue’ began not only in nature, but were widely used by the Egyptians. Blue was the first synthetically produced pigment that dates back to 2,200 B.C. This pigment of Egyptian blue was quite a few shades lighter than 2020 Classic Blue and more resembled what we may consider more of a sky blue and was used to adorn important artifacts and sculpture.

TIP: When naming or describing colors try to push yourself, your colleagues, your clients and your children (especially) to use at least two words at all times to best communicate a color. This is a tactic that is used frequently in introductory art and design classes as a way to break our habit of referring to simply blue, or a ‘shade of blue’ but rather more specific visual reference to the blue you are imagining. Our common visual culture allows us to share meaning when describing and using color. There is quite a different in green, for example, from pea green to lime green.

TIP: Here are a few examples of Classic Blue being used in photography. Often when we consider using the color of the year we have a tendency to use large bold fills of the color in layout. However, using just a hint of the color of the year, (COTY) in this case Classic Blue, allows your work to feel on-trend. Other ways to use the COTY is by integrating the color into headline typography, as an accent drop cap or perhaps in a folio (page number).

As we enter this new chapter in mankind, it’s comforting—whether intentional or not—that our visual culture will be using a color that defined the human experience so many years ago.