Brain Food #539
Gray and yellow
Thoughts of the day
At the end of each year, Pantone, an institution that ‘owns’ colour more than any other, announces the colour that will represent the year that is coming.
This time, they picked two: Pantone 17-5104 Ultimate Gray paired with Pantone 13-0647 Illuminating, a shade of bright yellow.
Surprisingly, though the gray may come across as a negative colour, that was not the intention. Gray, in this case, represents stability. Yellow represents hope. Together, they are the formula of the future.
Laurie Pressman, Pantone vice president, explained the decision:
“Each of them has their own emotional aspect, the gray being the one that’s more supportive and solid, the practical foundation that we need, and the yellow is about hopefulness and sunshine and good cheer […] Something that’s been apparent across the board is how much we need each other, that these connections with others have given us strength and fortitude, as well as the hope and the positive outlook that are essential to our moving forward.”
But it is impossible to ignore the slight tinge of negativity that gray carries. After all, we have all lived through gray, cloudy days, where their start and their end is obscured by the paleness of the sky. But it is only after a few of those days that the sunshine is appreciated, reminding us that we need a bit of bleakness to appreciate a blast of colour.
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