Trend Forecasting
The Pantone Color of the Year 2021 comes in two this year: Illuminating Yellow and Ultimate Gray. This is the second time two colors have been chosen. This year, the contrasting colors are meant to remind those of the unification of strength and hopefulness, Laurie Pressman, vice president of the Pantone Color Institute, said in an interview with CNN.
The Pantone Color of the Year is supposed to represent a sort of trend forecasting for the year ahead based on the tone of the year past. It’s only fitting that these colors represent hopes of a bright new year and acknowledge an endurance through the events of 2020.
“The union of an enduring Ultimate Gray with the vibrant yellow illuminating expresses a message of positivity supported by fortitude. Practical and rock solid but at the same time warming and optimistic, this is a color combination that gives us resilience and hope. We need to feel encouraged and uplifted; this is essential to the human spirit.” Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute said in a quote on the Pantone Color of the Year webpage.
Illuminating Yellow is the shade of all things happy, the promise of summer days ahead, sunflowers, bumble bee stripes, lemonade, innocent rubber duckies, and the iconic yellow smiley face. It’s sunny and alive, something not so often seen on the screens of Zoom calls.
Ultimate Gray is sturdy, calm, and metal-like. Steel beams of Ultimate Gray pierce the sky above construction sites. The promise of something shiny and new in the future. Gray can always be relied upon as a safety net for bedroom or bathroom color schemes. A classic neutral in any wardrobe. It’s not in your face but simply in the background. It reminds me of river stones gently tumbling and chiming together under a bubbling brook. Their calming strikes are relentless to weathering.
On that note, I would expect to see more bright yellow walls, accent wallpapers, lamps, and rugs in interior design. These stick-on wallpapers from Target are a lot harder to apply than they look but definitely worth it. One accent wall with a cool yellow patterned wallpaper or sunny solid can easily spruce up a room (Keep in mind peel-off wallpaper is a two-man job. I learned the hard way). While we’re at it, what about a posh yellow couch too? This one by Mario Bellini is upwards of $4,000, but a girl can dream, right? All of those bright accents can be quickly toned down with the right neutral. Did somebody say “Ultimate Gray?”
As for other yellow and gray incorporations, I could see the “groutfit” making an appearance paired with these yellow accented Nike Air Force 1s. As loungewear endured through the winter, sweatsuit sets were a sought-after present last Christmas. Forget the groutfit all together and opt for this eye-catching, star-printed, yellow sweatsuit from Starfit.
If you aren’t convinced that the enduring hopefulness of these two colors together will make an appearance, this article on Verywell Mind, “The Color Psychology of Yellow,” said yellow is attention-grabbing, energetic, and warm.
Try out the colors of the year on your social media feeds too. Pantone has their own Instagram and Facebook filters at the bottom of the Color of the Year webpage.
Written by: Vivian Roach
Edited by: Josie Gruber