Ultra Violet: Pantone Color of the Year 2018

This week, Pantone announced that its new Color of the Year 2018 would be: Ultra-Violet. Striking, bold, intense, complex – it is the color of kings and royalty, as well as mindfulness and spirituality.

“We are living in a time that requires inventiveness and imagination...” says Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute."...intuitive Ultra Violet lights the way to what is yet to come."

PURPLE HISTORY:

Historically, purple was the color of royalty, and aristocracy, as it was outrageously expensive to produce. Made from the mucus of sea snails – only a tiny amount was needed to create the rich color, yet it took as many as 250,000 snails to make one ounce of the dye. It’s a wonder the little molluscs didn't become extinct!

In fact, as the snails were rare, the dye was literally worth its weight in gold. In Ancient Greece, statesmen and generals wore the color, and in the Roman Empire it was only for the nobility. In fact, Julius Caesar restricted the wearing of it to the immediate ruling circle, a trait Henry VIII followed, as he decreed that only the king and his immediate family could wear purple.

Luckily for us, synthetic dyes for the color was discovered in the late nineteenth century, which means that not only purple, but a myriad of its tones, including the gorgeous 'ultra violet' are available to us all today.

COLOR OF THE COSMOS:

This beautiful color is also symbolic of mysticism and the Cosmos. In a world that is currently struggling to find meaning, could this shade be a beacon of hope out of the political darkness of 2017, and instill some possible harmony? I do hope so.

USE:

Purple is regal, majestic and rich and a little goes a long way. Unless you are going to use it in place of a dark navy, or black, in a small intimate space, my own preference would be to use it as an accent color, along with possibly a green (Pantone Color of the Year 2017 was Greenery – a bright, fresh green that would complement this color perfectly). It also pairs nicely with navy and grey.

Suggestions: