The Pantone ‘Colour of the Year’ for 2018!

“The colour of the year program is the one moment in the year to encourage the general public to reflect on the importance of colour in their daily choices” Laurie Pressman, – VP, Pantone Color Institute.

For anyone that works in creative industries, colour is a serious source of inspiration. Whether you’re a graphic designer, artist, fashion designer or photographer, colour is a universal language, speaking to everyone. It can evoke emotions, recall memories or even tell a story.

Every year, Pantone Colour Institute, the world renowned authority on colour and colour systems releases their highly anticipated ‘Colour of the Year’. So, what exactly goes into determining the coveted colour choice? Pantone draw their inspiration from all over the world in areas of fashion, music, popular culture, travel destinations, newsworthy stories and even organic elements and global economic conditions. Quartz journalist Anne Quinto, explains why this annual colour phenomenon is so important to Pantone, “The colour of the year program is the one moment in the year to encourage the general public to reflect on the importance of colour in their daily choices”. Vice president of the Pantone Colour Institute, Laurie Pressman, adds, “The Pantone Colour of the Year has come to mean so much more than ‘what’s trending’ in the world of design; it’s truly a reflection of what’s needed in our world today.

So, without further ado, we introduce Pantone’s ‘Colour of the Year’ for 2018. Drum roll please!

Do you think the Pantone team have made the right choice?

Why Ultra Violet?

According to Pantone, Ultra Violet is “a dramatically provocative and thoughtful purple shade” that “communicates originality, ingenuity, and visionary thinking that points us toward the future”.

Pantone also make reference to the mysteries of the cosmos and how Ultra Violet alludes to the limitless sky and the world beyond our own. In popular culture and music, Prince, Jimi Hendrix and David Bowie are mentioned. These legendary musicians are known for their originality and expression of individuality. Symbolically, enigmatic purples have been symbols of non-conformity and being eccentric. Finally, from a historical perspective, Pantone note that there is a mysterious and spiritual quality to the colour and how it is often associated with mindfulness and meditation.

The intention is that Pantone’s ‘Colour of the Year’ organically begins to influence on purchasing decisions by various industries, so naturally you will start to see Ultra Violet more and more in areas of fashion, interior styling, industrial design and even in our world of labelling, packaging and printing.

But there are always brands slightly ahead of the game, check out these 5 products that have already incorporated Ultra Violet into their branding and packaging.

Provision – ProActive Contact Lenses

When you think contact lenses, generally purple doesn’t comes to mind, usually its soft blues, white and greys. Using Ultra Violet to the extreme in its packaging, these Provision ProActive contact lenses are sure to stand out amongst its competitors on the shelf.

The Marshmallowist – Blueberry and Gin Marshmallows

Need an example of modern, on trend and millennial worthy packaging? Then look no further. When you combine textured packaging with a modern typeface, laser cut shapes, geometric design and varying shades of Ultra Violet, you can do no wrong. Oh, and who doesn’t love marshmallows? Yum.

Gr8nola

Flexible packaging is our prediction for on trend packaging options in 2018, and is starting to be used across a range of industries including health and beauty, fitness and sport as well as food. Think coffee and salt scrubs, whey and protein, snack based products and even cat food! Gr8nola, a US granola brand not only nails the flexible packaging, but has been using Ultra Violet as the basis for their branding since they launched. Double win.

Butter London & Pantone

Beauty brand Butter London have been releasing a collaborative range with Pantone for the past couple of years, celebrating the chosen ‘Colour of the Year’. Aside from using Ultra Violet across the branding and labelling, they’ve used a holographic (another of our 2018 packaging predictions) carton sleeve in order to showcase the beauty bag, which of course is Ultra Violet.

Paco Rabanne – ‘Ultra Violet’ Eau de Parfum

Global fashion brand and perfumist, Paco Rabanne might’ve been looking into a crystal ball as he was already predicting this packaging and colour trend nearly 20 years ago. Launched in 1999, ‘Ultra Violet’ Eau de Parfum was Paco Rabanne’s nod to the flower violet and is still going strong in the market. What’s even more strange is that he named the perfume after the electric hue. Talk about seeing into the future!

Perfumist Paco Rabanne might’ve been looking into a crystal ball as he was already predicting this packaging and colour trend nearly 20 years ago. Launched in 1999, ‘Ultra Violet’ Eau de Parfum was Paco Rabanne’s nod to the flower violet and is still killing it in the perfume market. What’s even stranger is what he called the perfume… Talk about seeing into the future!

At Luminar, we are at the forefront of trends, so will you be using Ultra Violet this year? Get in touch with us and we can happily guide you on how you can use colour to make your labelling and packaging pop. At Luminar we’re in the interest of making sure that your brand is always 2018 ready.