How the Pantone 2020 Color of the Year Influences Color Trends

Colors hold a power that is truly amazing. Something as simple as a shade of blue can unravel history and cultural changes like the iconic Tiffany blue inspired by Napoleon’s wife, Empress Eugenie de Montijo who wished to emulate Marie Antoinette. This blue marks up the price of jewelry significantly, especially in an age where we fully understand the dark practices of the diamond market. Again, all of this information coming just from a shade of blue.

Color Trends 2020

Unlimited access to information and images via the Internet greatly influences the preferred color of the year. Interacting with images has created measurable data that can determine how people react to certain colors and color palettes. In the past, color trends changed at a much slower pace, but still reflected the cultural mood of the time. There was the shift to light, soft pastels of the 50s after the previous decades of somber, dark colors of WWII and the Depression all the way to the dirtied grunge colors of the early 90s showing a neo-renaissance of the colors from the Second World War suggesting a cyclical trend that follow the economy.

2020’s predicted colors are no different. Influenced by the media people consume and create, this year’s colors stem from millennial minimalism and bold self-expression. Both individuals and the media are predicted to seize the idea of “more is more” with their representations.

Pantone Color of 2020

Every year, paint distributor Pantone holds the power to predict the year’s “it” color. This color influences various industries including interior design, food, and fashion. In a symbiotic nature, color trend predictions usually come true with the company’s credibility as well as media enforcement.

According to Pantone, the 2020 Color of the Year is blue, specifically, Pantone 19-4052 Classic Blue, which the company explains, “instilling calm, confidence, and connection, this enduring blue hue highlights our desire for a dependable and stable foundation on which to build as we cross the threshold into a new era.” Following suit, stock photo distributor, Shutterstock, and lifestyle magazine, Elle’s Color Trends, reflect the same bold, confident trend.

Shutterstock’s 2020 Color Trends

Using customer downloads, Shutterstock analyzed the billions of pixels to determine the colors on the rise for 2020, which were:

Lush Lava #FF4500

This dramatic shade of fiery red doesn’t have to work hard to catch attention, especially in media content. Vibrant and rich, the color has cultural connections to happiness, luck, and longevity in Asian countries.

Aqua Menthe #7FFFD4

Playful and precious, this shade is a mix between cyan and mint bringing together two eye-pleasing colors creating a marvel.

Phantom Blue #191970

Known from van Gogh’s iconic Starry Night, Phantom Blue illustrates the dramatic darkness that can be contrasted by bright colors like Lush Lava or Aqua Menthe and attests to Pantone’s Color of the Year.