color of the year.

every year this little company called Pantone announces the ‘Pantone Color of the Year’. this year it’s honeysuckle. really?! it’s just so meh. didn’t it already win color of the year in the 80s when it was called mauve and was incorporated into every floral fabric and all country knickknacks?!

BUT here’s the thing, if i group honeysuckle into a palette with colors that i love, things go from meh to oh yeah, real quick.

Exhibit A:

i took this photo a few months ago at urban ore. i was digging through piles of rusty scrap metal, as i’ve been known to do, and i came across this piece of sheet metal that had been painted and painted again and again. and then it had peeled and peeled again and again. i couldn’t walk away from it. i had to capture a piece of it for posterity. if it would’ve fit in my car it would be hanging on my wall right now where i could soak in the vibrancy and run my fingers across the colors and texture every time i walked past it. yum.

it includes that meh mauve that i clearly have put in the corner and never given enough credit to, especially since it got color of the year. i’m the jerk in this scenario. but we all do this. hate on colors that is. notion:creative creates a custom color palette for each of our clients that gets implemented into their brand. i know, my job rules. part of that process is a creative brief that we have our clients complete asking them about their color likes and dislikes. oh how i wish i could share some of the dislike comments but i will use my better judgment and keep my mouth shut. let’s just say that there are some hilarious associations people attach to colors.

perhaps being grouped into a new palette is all a color need to shake negative associations. if we think of a color palette as a family with each member having their role, then in the above scenario honeysuckle is the calm steady rock of this ruckus family that likes to party and it’s clear that honeysuckle restocks the fridge and cleans up after the others. but if we imagine it in a family of muted quiet tones, like a librarian family, then it might be the loud obnoxious one that uses it’s outside voice, inside. crazy how context can change your view of something.

if you ever find yourself hating on or avoiding certain colors then we suggest you spend some time at one of the below color websites. a palette is a great way to create room decor, put together an outfit, customize a blog, choose food for a menu, make your eyes dance, etc…

we highly recommend you go directly to kuler. rad name. rad site. this free Adobe program lets you create custom palettes. if kuler is too much for you hit up one of these more straightforward sites : colorhunter and color palette generator

the Pantone site also has all kinds of color fun for fashion, home, and even colorstrology. yep. you can find out your personal pantone color, based on your birthday. please note, per the site, this is for entertainment purposes only. phew. red violet doesn’t have to be the color that defines me…and the associations are already back. not hating is so hard.

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h (ater)