The Pantone Color Institute has announced Viva Magenta as its 2023 Color of the Year.
But this magenta isn't the pinkish hue of psychedelic swirls; Viva Magenta runs crimson. It's more cranberry than raspberry, more brick than blush, and with more hints of carmine than cerulean, as its plummy name may suggest.
"Viva Magenta is inexcusably red," said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute. "And red is Mother Nature's most important signature color. It commands attention. It signals risk."
After nearly three years of the ongoing pandemic, we need a color that energizes us, Eiseman said. We crave the pop of a red accent wall, the excitement of a Candied Cranberry Collins, the wow of a handsome man in a fitted maroon business suit — I'm looking at you, Nate Burleson, co-anchor of "CBS Mornings."
"People all over the world are over it," Eiseman said. "We just want to go out. We want to try something new. We need new energy."
A color encouraging us to take risks is a much different vibe than what Pantone conjured for 2022 — cautious, yet hopeful Very Peri — a light blue that skews lavender. I cringed at that announcement: Not another hue of blue/purple, after 10 Pantone Colors of the Year have hailed from the blue family. I was ready for the passion, power and optimism of red then. Finally, I got my wish.
Viva Magenta gives me a sense of power. Its clear beauty and dynamism signal the excitement of the future. (It is the color of the Dora Milaje's uniform, the women warriors who protect vibranium, in Marvel's blockbuster "Wakanda Forever." And if you warm Viva Magenta up just a tad bit more, you've got Phillies red.)
This is Pantone's 24th Color of the Year. The Carlstadt, New Jersey-based company has been producing the universal color guides that clothing, furniture and graphic designers rely on worldwide for their products since the 1960s. Today, there are more than 2,000 colors in the Pantone system.
In 2000 Pantone began releasing its annual color of the year to call attention to its vast color resources and build its cred as a global trend forecaster. The designation is not only a signal to freshen up our wardrobes with a must-have color, but it has also become a reflection of the zeitgeist, capturing the mood of our surroundings. Countless paint and furniture companies have followed Pantone's lead.
Pantone picked Viva Magenta because of its hybrid personality. We have hybrid cars and hybrid workspaces, why not hybrid hues? The red at Viva Magenta's core speaks to budding risk-takers, but its blue undertones are calming, speaking to measured risks. (We had three years to think about them.) "We don't know what the outcomes will be, but we've done the research to know we want to make this change," Eiseman said. "It speaks to our need of optimism and joy. Viva Magenta is powerful and empowering."
Ania Schwartzman, a New York-based clinical psychologist and image consultant, points to Viva Magenta's classic nature when paired with black or gray, but unexpected when matched with rust or pink. "This is not the color you wear to a job interview, but you might wear a bit of it when in a negotiation," said Schwartzman, who goes by the Fashionologist. "This is a color that says you are self-assured, it says, 'I got this.'"
