Pantone Color of the Year 2022: Very Peri

As America stumbles to the end of its second year of living with Covid, it’s heartening to see the return of those much-anticipated holiday traditions that keep us feeling almost normal. The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade returned last month in pre-pandemic splendor, for instance. Two weeks ago, the lights flickered to life on the Rockefeller Center tree. And this Sunday at 7:30 p.m. ET, PBS will air A Charlie Brown Christmas, which millions of Americans have watched annually since its 1965 debut. Less heralded—but perhaps more influential—is another year-end tradition that began 23 years ago with a team of corporate aesthetes in Carlstadt, N.J.: The announcement of the coming year’s official color. Even if you didn't know about the color of the year, odds are you’ve been influenced by it. And just to end the anticipation, 2022’s official color is called Very Peri (officially, Pantone No. 17-3938). As its name suggests, Veri Peri is a rich shade of periwinkle. According to Pantone, Very Peri “helps us to embrace this altered landscape of possibilities, opening us up to a new vision as we rewrite out lives.” Very Peri joins the list of past colors of the year including Radiant Orchid (2014), Rose Quartz (2016) and Living Coral (2019). Of course, any company could designate an official anything. But when it comes to matters of chromaticity, Pantone is the boss. Its Pantone Matching System is the definitive color identification reference used by industries including graphic design, printing and fashion. Inside the color brain trust But what’s the selection process look like? People envisioning a Dr. Strangelove-style war room with officials gathered around a round baize table will be disappointed. Pantone occupies a squat red-brick building in the industrial hinterlands of Bergen County, N.J. But the work here is nonetheless serious and even rather daunting. In determining the coming year’s color, executive director Leatrice Eiseman told Adweek, “We have our finger on the pulse of what we call the zeitgeist.” In practice, distilling the culture’s defining beliefs, spirit and mood into a shade on the spectrum means synthesizing inputs from all over the place. The art scene, for one. Pantone’s scouts keep an eye on leading exhibitions—especially those of emerging artists—in hopes of spotting prevailing colors that draw the public’s attention. “We also look at the entertainment world,” Eiseman said, especially blockbuster movies and animated films. “There are colors in those films that people are beginning to get immersed in. Consumers would start to see some of these colors and say, ‘Look at what they use in that character’s sweater—I’d love to have that color.’” Pantone also watches the runway shows in Paris, Milan and New York for colors that feel fresh and have potential for a wider embrace. “Fashion designers are among the first to push the envelope, open up and be more experimental, so that’s an important area,” Eiseman added. Turning a mood into a color Choosing a color to stand for an entire year also involves a bit of crystal balling. The trick lay in selecting a color that’s forward-looking enough to feel trendy yet still embodies the vibe of the present day. This is why this time last year, Pantone designated two colors of the year for 2021—Ultimate Gray, and also a lemon-gold shade called Illuminating. The gray was an impossible-to-miss reference of the lugubrious national mood after nine months of pandemic living, while the yellow hue was meant to be “warming and optimistic.” Together, the colors “expressed a message of positivity supported by fortitude,” according to a statement. A similar kind of thinking applied to this year’s color. While blue is always a favorite, it tends to suggest a certain coolness and distance. Pantone therefore added a “red-violet undertone” to it, producing the periwinkle of note. “So you’ve taken your blue, that steadfast color, and added this excitement, this dynamism,” Eiseman explained. Presumably, it translates to all of us holding strong but straining to get some excitement back in our lives in 2022. Where will Very Peri actually appear? It’s fine to talk about aesthetics and moods like this, but how does the color of the year translate to daily life? Is there really any link between Very Peri and what’ll show up on the clothing racks at Target? Well, theoretically, yes. Because leading designers tend to look to Pantone for their cues, the colors it deems buzzworthy have a better chance of appearing in consumer products in the coming months. In fact, some of that’s happened already. Microsoft, a longtime partner with Pantone, is already thinking about ways to incorporate Veri Peri into its color-dependent products like PowerPoint slides and Windows wallpaper. Even if brands elect not to use Very Peri, though, it’s nice to know that its hints of optimism (in the form of the aforementioned red violet undertone) are there. Very Peri is actually a new color that wasn’t on the Pantone scale before now. “That newness, freshness, was really important” a year and nine months into the pandemic, Eiseman said. “Hopefully we’re coming out of this terrible time.” How Digital Art Space Artechouse Helped Pantone Unveil its Colors of the Year for 2021

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Here's How Pantone Landed On Very Peri as Its Official Color of 2022

A peek at the inner workings of the legendary arbiter of trendy hues

Robert Klara

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Robert Klara