The Pantone colors of the year influence everything from fashion to design and home decor and each year, we look forward to see what color the institute names. And for the only the second time in history, the Pantone Color Institute has named two colors: PANTONE® 17-5104 Ultimate Gray and PANTONE® 13-0647 Illuminating.
Due to the uncertainty leading up to 2021, the institute named two colors of the year. The gray color is calming and stabilizing and illuminating is a shade of yellow that’s warming and bright. According to Pantone, each shade has a purpose “each of them has their own emotional aspect, the gray being the one that’s more supportive and solid, the practical foundation that we need, and the yellow is about hopefulness and sunshine and good cheer,” executive director of the institute, Leatrice Eiseman, executive director told TIME.
The two independent colors are “a marriage of color conveying a message of strength and hopefulness that is both enduring and uplifting.” They’re meant to represent connection and the need for relationships to help get us through the pandemic.
Last year, the institute named Classic Blue the color, and it was meant to ease anxiety entering into a new decade. The color of the year is meant to symbolize the cultural climate we’re living in at the moment. Going into 2021, the colors are meant to represent brighter times ahead and a future marked by the return to the norm.
We can cheers to that!
