Discovering Viva Magenta: the Pantone colour of the year 2023.
“An unconventional hue for an unconventional time”: this is how the authoritative colour institute Pantone, which elects a special hue every year, defines Viva Magenta 18-750, Colour of the Year 2023.
It is a shade rooted in nature descended from the red family and expressing a new signal of strength. Viva Magenta is bold and fearless, a pulsating, exuberant colour. The idea is of a powerful, stimulating shade that bridges nature (it is a cochineal red, a crimson) and the metaverse immediately renamed the Magentaverse.
What distinguishes this year’s colour of the year from last year’s – Pantone 17-3938 Very Peri – is Viva Magenta’s ability to respond to the collective need for strength. Viva Magenta offers – according to the Panton Colour Institute – the confidence and motivation we need to withstand long-term disruptive events. Three years after a pandemic, facing a war, an unstable economy, social unrest, supply chain disruptions and increasing climate change, we must heal. Yet, we must find the motivation to continue. Here, Viva Magenta envelops us with both power and grace’.
From a technical point of view, the shade is a shaded crimson red, a balance between warm and cool, a hybrid colour, straddling the physical and the virtual in our multidimensional world. “It is assertive, but not aggressive, a carmine red that does not dominate with boldness but instead adopts a fist-in-a-velvet-glove approach,” note the colourists of the renowned American institute who call Pantone 18-1750 Viva Magenta a transformative shade of red capable of guiding design to create a more positive future.
In the process of selecting this year’s Colour of the Year, Pantone observed an increased appreciation and awareness of nature among lifestyle trends. “We are incorporating more living things into our homes, such as plants, flowers, indoor flower walls and restorative outdoor spaces. We are finding new enjoyment in travel, sports and outdoor recreation after stopping these activities during the pandemic. We are more careful to protect our bodies due to public health crises: we seek safe and reliable food and wellness is the new leitmotif. All these lifestyle trends speak of the friendliness of natural forces’.
Designers can use the full power of the colour of the year as a velvet sofa, armchair or chair or a lacquered wall. Those who want a more neutral home can use it as a touch of colour. Like a Murano glass light fixture or a striking ikebana flower arrangement on a completely neutral dining room, or a luminous abstract canvas or NFT projection in a white entrance hall, Viva Magenta packs a lot of drama even in a small dose.
Reds are powerful colours that celebrate life. Like a bright crimson red, Viva Magenta balances boldness with a fun feel. The colour of the year 2023 speaks of our desire to take on new challenges and try the unconventional by meeting others with compassion.
If you liked my blog post “Discovering Viva Magenta” have also a look at Decorating with Red Colour
Hygge Design 