Long Live Magenta | 2023 Pantone Color of the Year

It’s that time of the year – the Pantone Color Institute’s Color of the Year Announcement– a decision so fascinating and transformative for any color aficionado, from artists to designers to psychologists. Well, this year’s decision hits a little closer to home… Viva Magenta 18-1750 was named Pantone’s 2023 Color of the Year.

Ah beloved Magenta – my brand color accenting black and white, and, coincidentally, one of my best colors to wear, based on a professional color consultation. This I found out years after I designated Magenta as my signature.

 

My acquaintance with the color started early in the family publishing business: it is one of the 4 colors of printer inks (CMYK). Interestingly enough, color scientists consider Magenta merely as the “place where blue fades into red” as there’s no wavelength of light that corresponds to it, so the color cannot technically exist.

 

Yet, it is a color that just pops when it appears in nature, as a floral or in some exotic plant. Indeed, that is what prompted Pantone in making their decision:

In this age of technology, we look to draw inspiration from nature and what is real. PANTONE 18-1750 Viva Magenta descends from the red family, and is inspired by the red of cochineal, one of the most precious dyes belonging to the natural dye family as well as one of the strongest and brightest the world has known. Rooted in the primordial, PANTONE 18-1750 Viva Magenta reconnects us to original matter. Invoking the forces of nature, PANTONE 18-1750 Viva Magenta galvanizes our spirit, helping us to build our inner strength.

– Pantone Color Institute

Magenta is electrifying, encouraging, fun, exciting. For me, forever and not just 2023 – it is truly “Long live Magenta”