What was the color of the year in 2019?

Since 2000, the global authority on color Pantone Color Institute has been influencing fashion trends and buying decisions worldwide by announcing a Color of the Year.

Twice a year the company hosts a secret meeting of representatives from various nations’ color standards groups and after two days of presentations and debate, they choose a color for the following year that represents the globe’s ‘spirit of the time’.

The forward-looking color selected to uplift us all for 2019 is:

Pantone color 16-1546 Living Coral

“An animating and life-affirming coral hue with a golden undertone that energizes and enlivens with a softer edge”

Pantone Color Institute

The orange base, rather than pink tone creates a warmth that compliments most skin tones, and has roots from the 1950s giving it an almost retro feel when applied to home accessories and fashion.

The winning color is described as “vibrant, yet mellow, Pantone 16-1546 Living Coral embraces us with warmth and nourishment to provide comfort and buoyancy in our continually shifting environment”. Consider using coral tones in technology, especially digital posts as not only does it ‘pop’ digital content, but the vibrant color is perceived as bridging the gap between technology and nature.

Apple iphone XR - red - black
Photo credit Apple The new iPhone XR

Even before it was announced, Apple led the way introducing it into its most recent iPhones, and HT to AirBnB bringing it through since its rebrand in 2014.

If you’re a designer, take a look at this Living Coral themed image stock collection put together by Adobe for inspiration.

Here’s how to up your color conversation

Color lovers #ShineOn 💎

1. The ABCs of color acronyms

RGB: red, green, blue. This is the system for specifying all colours used on a digital display – like your TV or computer screen.

Hex: Hexadecimal is the six-digit set of letters and numbers used in web projects where the first two represent red, second two green and the last two blue. For example #138b3b (our brand color for PageProof).

CMYK: Refers to the four inks used in a standard 4-color printing process (cyan, magenta, yellow and black).

PMS: Pantone matching system. Thousands of color swatches that each have a unique number. This number means printers, deisgners and ink manufacturers can all match the exact same swatch.

2. Why K for black?

K actually refers to key. In 4-color printing the black ‘key plate’ is used to align the C, M and Y plates in perfect registration.

3. Seeing red

Taylor Swift in the red background - curls - Dress, Red, Celebrity Wallpaper - color

The color red was mentioned 186 million times in 2012 on social media thanks to Taylor Swift’s album RED, NASA’s landing of the moon rover on the red planet Mars, and various media coverages of red carpet events.

4. Tiffany blue

Tiffany Blue - Gift box - Luxury Jewelry - Pantone 1837 - Iconic Box - packaging - color
Pantone 1837 is every girls color

The custom color created by Pantone for Tiffany is called Pantone 1837 Blue and ensures Tiffany’s brand is consistent around the globe. 1837 marks the founding year by Charles Lewis Tiffany.

To really impress your designer friends – mention the embossed font for Tiffany & Co on the box packaging is Baskerville Old Face.

5. Minion Yellow

Minion Yellow - Bob Kevin Pantone color - Character inspired color
These lovable guys have their very own Pantone color

The Illuminating, energetic, and fun-loving characters of the Despicable Me franchise are captured in an extroverted, playful, and warm yellow shade. Pantone Minion Yellow marks the first time in the global color authority’s history that a color has been created and named after a character.

If you are reviewing your design daily for artwork accuracy, don’t forget to check out our world-first feature – PageProof ColorSep®. Ensure your artwork composition and colors are perfect, reduce the cost of mistakes, and much more 💚.

author avatar
gemma
Gemma Rann is the CEO & Co-Founder of PageProof – the online proofing software leader for designers and marketing teams.

Read similar stories

How to run a digital advertising campaign in 2024

In this article, we will take you through what a digital advertising campaign is all about, its goals and objectives, what channels you might want to consider, your target audience and setting goals. This is a perfect read for those new to marketing, and those who are making the transformation into a digital marketing team.

Artwork and packaging proofing made simple with PageProof

Looking to make the review and approval for packaging artwork simple? Here are 10 reasons to collaborate using PageProof. It is seamless to engage stakeholders to ensure accuracy, full compliance, and speed in proofing. Offering gridlines, ruler, rotation, color detection, color separations, automatic barcode scanner, and smart compare to name a few fantastic features 💚

The benefits of accessible design (with 5 best-in-class examples)

Accessible design benefits everyone. But did you know that it's essential for businesses too? Discover how usability is improved, brands are strengthened, ROI is increased, and the risk of lawsuits is reduced. And be inspired by our favorite accessible design projects for 2022. 💚