Each year, new design trends reflect our desire to communicate and connect with our audiences in meaningful ways. In the following article, Award-Winning Stylist and Design Consultant Beth Divine talks about why Viva Magenta was chosen as Pantone’s Color of the Year 2023, and how creators can strategically implement it into their designs moving forward.
The original article can be found here.
AN UNCONVENTIONAL SHADE FOR AN UNCONVENTIONAL TIME
Pantone’s Color of The Year, Viva Magenta 18-750, vibrates with vim and vigor. It is a shade rooted in nature descending from the red family and expressive of a new signal of strength. Viva Magenta is brave and fearless, a pulsating color whose exuberance promotes a joyous and optimistic celebration, writing a new narrative.
This year’s Color of The Year is powerful and empowering. It is an animated red that revels in pure joy, encouraging experimentation and self-expression without restraint, an electrifying, and a boundless shade that is manifesting as a stand-out statement. PANTONE 18-1750 Viva Magenta welcomes anyone and everyone with the same verve for life and rebellious spirit. It is a color that is audacious, full of wit and inclusive of all.
As a nuanced crimson red tone that presents a balance between warm and cool, PANTONE 18-1750 Viva Magenta is also a hybrid color, one that comfortably straddles the physical and virtual in our multi-dimensional world. It is assertive, but not aggressive, a carmine red that does not boldly dominate but instead takes a “fist in a velvet glove” approach. Exuding dynamism, PANTONE 18-1750 Viva Magenta is a transformative red tone capable of driving design to create a more positive future.
The Meaning Behind Viva Magenta
As we balance our digital and physical lives, we continue to grow our appreciation for the natural world. The Color of the Year 2023 acknowledges our gravitational pull towards natural colors as movements swell around climate change, sustainability, and land protection.
In this year’s Color of the Year selection process, Pantone observed a heightened appreciation and awareness of nature represented by countless lifestyle trends. We’re incorporating more living things into our homes, such as plants, florals, living walls, and restorative outdoor spaces. We’re finding newfound enjoyment in travel, sports, and outdoor recreation after pausing these activities during the pandemic. We’re more careful to protect our bodies as a result of the public health crises — we look to apply and ingest trusted, life-giving ingredients. All of these lifestyle trends speak to the heartiness of natural forces.
Viva Magenta’s organic origins hail from the cochineal beetle. This insect produces carmine dye, one of the most precious, strongest, and brightest of the natural dye family. The red tone of Viva Magenta connects us to original matter, imbibing us with a primordial signal of strength.
The Color of the Year 2023 merges the richness, warmth, and strength of natural matters with the rich, open horizons of the digital world. The result is a shade of red that expands our horizons of authenticity. The metaverse creates new opportunities for us to express ourselves, and the raw fortitude of Viva Magenta inspires us to do so with confidence and bravery.
Viva Magenta Color Psychology
Reds are power colors that celebrate life. As a bright, crimson red, Viva Magenta balances boldness with a feeling of fun. This dynamic mix exudes rebellion, but not at the expense of softness. It embodies an expression of fierce grace, inspiring us to show up with confidence and humanity. The digital space has accelerated globalization, and as a result, we are more deeply connected to each other than ever before. We can never fully understand what lies beneath the surface of the friends and strangers we meet, but we can always work to deepen our empathy. The Color of the Year 2023 speaks to our desire to take on new challenges and try the unconventional while meeting others with compassion.
What distinguishes this year’s Color of the Year from last year’s — PANTONE 17-3938 Very Peri, which also married the technical with nature — is Viva Magenta’s ability to answer our collective need for strength.
Viva Magenta offers us the assurance and motivation we need to weather long-term disruptive events. Three years deep into a pandemic, facing a war, an unstable economy, social unrest, supply chain breakdowns, and mounting climate change, we need to heal. And still, we need to find the motivation to continue. Here, Viva Magenta cloaks us in both power and grace, and sends us out into the world with the verve we’ve yearned for.
How to Use Viva Magenta
How to Wear Viva Magenta
Feeling powerful? Wear the Color of the Year as a full-on statement. Need to wake up a quieter outfit? Viva Magenta works radiantly as an accessory — pair it with pale grays, blues, or pastels. Want to jump on the monochromatic trend? Try it with other pinks and command the room.
Because Viva Magenta is a red that strikes a balance between warm and cool, it’s not too harsh for the body. Instead it brings a fun, celebratory element. In the beauty industry, Pantone sees the Color of the Year worn in hair, especially on tips, a bold look that can transform hair into an accessory. Viva Magenta also shines on lips, cheeks, and nails. This versatile shade is universally flattering across ages, genders, and skin tones.
Viva Magenta in Home and Interiors
Daring designers can harness the full power of the Color of the Year as a velvet couch or lacquered wall. Those who desire a more neutral home can use it as a pop of color. As a sculptural Murano glass lighting fixture or striking ikebana floral arrangement punctuating an all-neutral dining room, or a glowing abstract canvas or NFT projection in a white entry-way, Viva Magenta packs a lot of drama in a small dose.
Viva Magenta in Graphic Design
Today’s consumers spend large portions of their days looking at a screen where the visuals tend towards pale and neutral. Designers looking for a color that cuts through this space will find the Color of the Year 2023 a captivating solution. A brand using Viva Magenta expresses that it’s fearless, engaging, and that looks at the world unconventionally to bring about new solutions.
Viva Magenta in Packaging and Plastics
Brands wanting to appear animated and passionate can use Viva Magenta to elicit a strong consumer reaction. Because reds are advancing colors, they draw the eye and muscle out the colors surrounding them. Whether consumers are scrolling on their phones or browsing the aisles, tapping into the Color of the Year 2023 will ensure you stand out.