Design Perspective
January 12, 2022

PANTONE COLOR OF THE YEAR 2022

By: Anna Popov

Design Perspective
January 12, 2022

PANTONE COLOR OF THE YEAR 2022

By: Anna Popov

PANTONE 17-3938 Very Peri

Sunrise in Alberta, CA – Image by IBP

“As we move into a world of unprecedented change, the selection of PANTONE 17-3938 Very Peri brings a novel perspective and vision of the trusted and beloved blue color family, encompassing the qualities of the blues, yet at the same time with its violet-red undertone, PANTONE 17-3938 Very Peri displays a spritely, joyous attitude and dynamic presence that encourages courageous creativity and imaginative expressions.” - Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute

Image Credit: pantone.com

Inquisitive. Intriguing. Daring.

We must admit, when the team here at IBP saw the announcement for the Pantone Color of the Year for 2022, we were a bit (ahem!) taken aback. Although we love a minimal neutral palette, we are certainly not averse to bringing color to our design work – it is something we do regularly, with some of our designers liking to dabble with color more than others. But this color; this color had us all in a spin.

Rather than just write it off (which 6 out of 9 of us wanted to do by the way), we decided to discuss – round table style. We won’t go into all the details but here are our conclusions: –

  1. Looking ahead and paying attention to emerging design trends is part of the job and the Pantone Color of the Year is often intertwined with forecasts in design and fashion trends for the coming year and guess what? 2022 is set to be a year where ‘color and pattern are everywhere!’. Whereas we don’t tend to follow trends or fashion, and more adhere to our tried and tested design principles and European detailing, we are always open to taking inspiration from the imagery that surrounds us and reflecting that in our work.
  2. The only place we could all agree that we fully appreciated this color is in nature. Now we know this may not be the first color that comes to mind when you think of nature but picture this; sitting on a porch in Alberta CA, sipping some warm tea whilst wrapped in a cozy blanket watching the sunrise, planning your day of exploring nature – not too unusual now, right? Or a beautiful field of lavender on a drive through the countryside? Or the beauty of the aurora borealis on a clear night?
  3. Pantone’s Color of the Year is not just for us – luxury, residential interior designers. It is a color to inspire the entire design industry and we think we will see it being used in branding campaigns, beauty products, fashion and apparel, accessories, lighting, digital art, fashion magazine shoots and more.

Lavender Field – Image by IBP   

Here are a few places it caught our eye:

One thing you might be wondering about this vibrant color. “What can I even pair it with”? Here at IBP, we love a nice, elegant neutral scheme. One of our suggestions would be pairing it with neutrals to make it the star of the show. Or maybe incorporating a holistic and harmonious palette by finding a muted version of the color and pairing it with warm wood and darker tones as below.

After 2021, and as we head into 2022, we are all ready to move onto bigger and brighter things. Although we may not be jumping to use this color on the regular, we are very much looking forward to seeing it manifest itself in the design world throughout the year.

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