The annual cascade of color-of-the-year announcements ended in December with chief color kahuna Pantone. Ultra Violet, its pick for 2018 Color of the Year, is “a dramatically provocative and thoughtful shade of purple,” says the company.
Lots of analysis and commentary (a good bit of it tongue-in-cheek) followed. Since purple is a combination of red and blue, does it signify the need for political détente? Or question traditional gender boundaries? Or mark the increase in skin cancer caused by rays of the same name? Or honor our very own Prince? Or signify, as Pantone Color Institute’s executive director Leatrice Eiseman pronounced, “We are living in a time that requires inventiveness and imagination. It is this kind of creative inspiration that is indigenous to Ultra Violet, a blue-based purple that takes our awareness and potential to a higher level.”
Make of that what you will. Undoubtedly, you’ll be seeing a lot of Ultra Violet this year, along with a general trend toward darker, more saturated colors, as 2018 color and palette selections by the major paint companies indicate.
A Few Notable Color Picks:
• Benjamin Moore selected Caliente, a sizzling hot shade of red, terming it “strong, radiant, full of energy.”
• Sherwin-Williams went with Oceanside, an intense, rich blue that it describes as a “harmonious balance of blues and greens.”
• Pratt & Lambert likes Heron, a tranquil, deep blue.
• Behr’s first-ever color of the year is Moment, a serene blue-green hue.
• Glidden chose Deep Onyx—that’s right, basic black.
• Dutch Boy is at the other end of the spectrum with Sandstone Tint, a neutral shade balanced between warm and cool.
