Pantone Names Its 2020 'Color of the Year'

They say choice has nothing to do with Democrats
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Dec 5, 2019 5:14 AM CST
Classic Blue Is Pantone's Color of the Year
The Pantone Color Institute has named Classic Blue as its color of the year for 2020.   (AP Photo)

In these uneasy times, as we move along to a new decade, the Pantone Color Institute has reached back in time to calming, confident Classic Blue as its color of the year for 2020. The color is an anchor offering stability, constancy, and connection, said Laurie Pressman, vice president of the global purveyors of color consulting, trendspotting, and analysis. "It's a reassuring presence," she tells the AP. Akin to maritime blue—not indigo and brighter than navy—Classic Blue evokes a feeling of vast expanse, Pressman said of the shade also known as Pantone 19-4052. Pressman and her team scoured the worlds of art, fashion, and home decor, along with commercial, graphic, and industrial design, to come up with the pick.

But Classic Blue isn’t just about nostalgia, she says. Creators around the globe are putting out modern takes for runways, mobile phones, kitchen appliances and the paint of pricey, forward-looking cars, and motorcycles. At Wednesday's launch event, Pressman insisted the color was in no way a nod to the hue associated with the Democratic Party, though she knew the question would surface. "This was not a political move for us. This is global. We do not look at color through a political lens. We look at our life through a colorful lens," she said. Pantone chose Living Coral for 2019 and Ultra Violet the year before that. Cerulean, which heralded the new millennium, is the color of the daytime sky, while Classic Blue is the sky at dusk as the new decade commences.

(More Pantone stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X