VP OF PANTONE DISCUSSES
'ROAD TO EMERALD'  IN LAS VEGAS

LAS VEGAS – Emerald is Pantone's 2013 Color of the Year. Laurie Pressman, vice president of the Pantone Color Institute, discussed how Emerald has emerged in a seminar last week at the Las Vegas Market.  

Entitled “Fantasies and Realities Impacting Color Choices for the Future,” Pressman pointed out that color has the power to soothe and astonish, renew, replenish and cajole.

Pantone selected emerald based on a number of factors, including the emotional component and its symbolism. “Green is a color of growth. It’s a luxurious color that has a rather sophisticated feeling,” said Pressman.

Fashion also plays a large role in choosing the color of the year, and emerald has been getting more traction, with top designers including shades into their collections, even in menswear. In fact, emerald is among the top 10 leading color choices for designers this season, she noted.

According to Pressman, emerald can be paired well with other shades, including dependable neutrals.

"Green has become one of the most natural and neutral colors in design," she said. "Emerald is sophisticated—a live, radiant green with a yellow hue that enhances well-being. "

Pressman shared a brief history of the color green, which has been popular since the early 1970s, transforming in hues throughout the decades. Since the 1990s, the color has come to represent a social and environmental movement. 

"The presence of green goes beyond aesthetics and actually affects the nervous system," Pressman said, working to slow stress hormones.

 â€œGreen helps the heart to relax. The use of green plants is being promoted. Foliage prints or foliage shades in interior environment will produce some of those effects.”

 Emerald shades can be seen on the red carpet, luggage, handbags, shoes and a host of other accessories including high-end jewelry, eye shadow, nail polish, even hair color and lipstick. Pantone has partnered with Sephora and introduced an emerald collection, said Pressman. And Chevy has introduced a new emerald-colored Camaro.

As in years past, Pressman said she expects that emerald will remain popular into the future, just as Tangerine Tango—the 2012 color of the year—has done.

Other facts that Pressman shared about color include the following:

•  The fashion and auto industries influence trends with vibrant colors that will be remembered and emulated. 
• Bold silver and gold finishes remain as an accent of choice for the home, while jewel-toned metallics have been introduced with showstopper effect.
• Consumers have expectations that practicality and color can be a steady influence in unsteady and volatile times.
• Since more than 40% of the world’s population owns a cat or a dog, pet products and pet design motifs continue to influence fashion and color choices.

 

Pantone has named a Color of the Year since 2000,  when it was sky blue. In the aftermath of Y2K, the color represented stability, calmness and safety. Ever since, the company has selected an annual color to reflect the essence of the times.

During the seminar, Pressman highlighted trends and palettes incorporating a sense of humor, design ingenuity, twisted traditional, art deco and others. “In the realm of fantasy, we are certainly seeing our share of some very over-the-top designs,” she said.  “These designs are what we at Pantone like to call ‘design distractions,’ making us smile by providing entertainment in stressful time.”

Pressman said that a wide array of influences plays into the determination of color choices and trends. “As we continue to experience the reverberations of the financial crisis, while we all understand we need to stay grounded in reality, we also know it is the fantasy that will always first and foremost capture and captivate the consumer’s attention,” Pressman said.

Color, said Pressman, is the culmination of fantasy and reality.  “There is always a need for newness and new color stories,” she said. “Color brings an element of surprise.”

02.01.13

 

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