I know you were waiting breathlessly for Pantone’s Color of the Year and it’s finally here. Tada! Peach Fuzz! And I must admit I rather like it, although I’m not sure I can explain why I like it. Yes, a warm color appeals in winter. And maybe I’m thinking of something warm and creamy to consume. Sort of a light caramel. No, that’s not it. Maybe it’s a sort of earth tone? I usually like earth tones. Anyway, you know how it goes: As always, Pantone has a large amount of purple prose (an appropriately colorful term) describing the color:
(a gentle reminder that you are not required to read all this)
Subtly sensual, PANTONE 13-1023 Peach Fuzz is a heartfelt peach hue bringing a feeling of kindness and tenderness, communicating a message of caring and sharing, community and collaboration. A warm and cozy shade highlighting our desire for togetherness with others or for enjoying a moment of stillness and the feeling of sanctuary this creates, PANTONE 13-1023 Peach Fuzz presents a fresh approach to a new softness. An appealing peach hue softly nestled between pink and orange, PANTONE 13-1023 Peach Fuzz inspires belonging, recalibration, and an opportunity for nurturing, conjuring up an air of calm, offering us a space to be, feel, and heal and to flourish from. Drawing comfort from PANTONE 13-1023 Peach Fuzz, we can find peace from within, impacting our wellbeing. An idea as much as a feeling, PANTONE 13-1023 Peach Fuzz awakens our senses to the comforting presence of tactility and cocooned warmth. Sensitive but sweet and airy, PANTONE 13-1023 Peach Fuzz evokes a new modernity. While centered in the human experience of enriching and nurturing the mind, body, and soul, it is also a quietly sophisticated and contemporary peach with depth whose gentle lightness is understated but impactful, bringing beauty to the digital world. Poetic and romantic, a clean peach tone with a vintage vibe, PANTONE 13-1023 Peach Fuzz reflects the past yet has been refashioned with a contemporary ambiance.
I get such a kick out of this annual display of verbosity.
Why was this particular color chosen as Color of the Year? Why now? Ah, the reason is simple (after you get past the lack of a capital letter and failed subject-verb agreement):
at a time of turmoil in many aspects of our lives, our need for nurturing, empathy and compassion grows ever stronger as does our imaginings of a more peaceful future. We are reminded that a vital part of living a full life is having the good health, stamina, and strength to enjoy it. That in a world which often emphasizes productivity and external achievements, it is critical we recognize the importance of fostering our inner selves and find moments of respite, creativity, and human connection amid the hustle and bustle of modern life. As we navigate the present and build toward a new world, we are reevaluating what is important. Reframing how we want to live, we are expressing ourselves with greater intentionality and consideration. Recalibrating our priorities to align with our internal values, we are focusing on health and wellbeing, both mental and physical, and cherishing what’s special — the warmth and comfort of spending time with friends and family, or simply taking a moment of time to ourselves. With that in mind, we wanted to turn to a color that could focus on the importance of community and coming together with others. The color we selected to be our Pantone Color of the Year 2024 needed to express our desire to want to be close to those we love and the joy we get when allowing ourselves to tune into who we are and just savor a moment of quiet time alone. It needed to be a color whose warm and welcoming embrace conveyed a message of compassion and empathy. One that was nurturing and whose cozy sensibility brought people together and elicited a feeling of tactility. One that reflected our feeling for days that seemed simpler but at the same time has been rephrased to display a more contemporary ambiance. One whose gentle lightness and airy presence lifts us into the future.
There. See? I told you it was simple. That’s Pantone for you. Their business is color, and color is important. They are very serious about it. And if you don’t understand that, they will go to great lengths to explain it to you. Great lengths.
Do you suppose their writer(s) get paid by the word?
Love this!
Have you ever read S.J. Perelman? He wrote a very funny piece like this on a menu item for a Ligget soda fountain which began with: “I am not a teetotaler and enjoy a good snort as well as the next one, but for sheer delight and ecstasy in the region of the tonsils none of them can even begin to compare with that strange combination of syrup, ice cream, and carbonated water skillfully proportioned and compounded…” and goes on for roughly 1,000 words.
LOL! I’m not familiar with Perelman but now I wonder … could he be a writer for Pantone?
Alas, no. Perelman was a 20th century writer, and one of the great humorists of his time. He was a writer’s writer who loved commenting on ads. The piece I mentioned “Genuflection in the Sun,” can be found in a terrific collection of his work, THE MOST OF S.J. PERELMAN.
Thank you for adding that. I went looking for it and couldn’t find it. If he loved commenting on ads, he’d have a treasure trove of material today. By now my eye rolls are probably affecting my vision. It would have been fun to see his take on this Pantone stuff.
Pretty
Yep, I agree.
Erhmm .. yes. Whatever. [eye roll]
Ridiculous, isn’t it. And yet they do it every year.
Ah yes, and you never miss the chance to get stuck into ’em. [grin]
How well I remember your rave about magenta, Colorado !!
I don’t recall that offhand. I’ll have to dig it up. I’m guessing I didn’t like it.
(P.S. I went back and looked. Good thing I did. The quoted text had become unreadable on this new dark background.)
You know that I wait for this day all year long. It’s just such a meaningful and momentous occasion. It just thrills me that you too keep up with these important occasions that so many other people just ignore.
You know, really, by now this should be a national holiday right up there with other December holidays like National Emo Day, National Ding-a-Ling Day, and Stupid Toy Day
Let me add that although I make fun of Pantone’s Color of the Year stuff, Pantone was an invaluable part of my work as an editor. Their color chip and number system kept customers, our publication, our printer, our artists, etc. on the same page throughout many stages of production. It ensured that the precise colors specified by the advertiser or customer were the colors appearing in the finished product. On the back of each chip are the precise specs for mixing/producing that color, much like the color chips you see at a paint store. Most trademarked/patented logos, merchandise, etc., include Pantone-specified colors.