In fitting news for the pool and spa industry, this year’s Pantone Color of the Year is “Classic Blue” (PANTONE 19-4052), a color that suggests water, sky, inner peace and spiritual fulfillment, Pantone says. Some call it “Facebook Blue.”
For the past 20 years, Pantone’s Institute of Color has selected a color that it predicts will be the most influential and popular in the coming year. Cerulean was its first pick back in 2000, Living Coral (16-1546) was the pick for 2019, a color the company said “embraces us with warmth and nourishment to provide comfort and buoyancy in our continually shifting environment.”
“We view the Pantone Color of the Year as an educational program that is intended to highlight the relationship between what is taking place in our global culture and how it manifests itself in color,” says Laurie Pressman, VP of the Pantone Color Institute, in a press release. “With color and context so intertwined, there really are reasons why a color family or individual color comes into prominence when it does, and for the most part the popularity of a color is symbolic of the age we are living in.”
She adds the selection process encompasses a wide range of psychological and social factors. “As we all head into a new era, we wanted to challenge ourselves to find inspiration from new sources that not only evolve our Color of the Year platform, but also help our global audiences achieve richer and more rewarding color experiences,” Pressman says. “This desire, combined with the emotional properties of Classic Blue, motivated us to expand beyond the visual, to bring the 2020 Pantone Color of the Year to life through a multi-sensory experience.”
In a New York Times article on the cultural significance of color, reporter Bruce Falconer reflected on the importance and influence of Pantone’s annual selection. “Color forecasters have tremendous influence over the visible elements of the global economy — the parts of it that are designed, manufactured, and purchased — though their profession itself is all but invisible,” he writes.
A number of other companies, such as paint manufacturer Sherwin-Williams make their own color of the year selections. SW’s 2020 is also a deep blue known as Naval SW 6244, which the company describes as "a rich navy hue that strikes a balance between calm and confident.”
