Color of the Year for 2020 Should've Been Orange
Every year, Pantone, the organization that created a color language for a universal system to label specific colors, announces the Color of the Year.
Color of the Year is an exciting piece of news to look out for, especially if you work as a designer, retail, product designer, furniture manufacturer, and more. Color of the Year usually is the deciding color every creative field takes into account when choosing what color to go with.
The Color of the Year for 2020 is Classic Blue. To give it a general name, it’s almost like a vibrant navy. But when I first heard this was the color for 2020, I was not into it. To me, it did not represent the current climate going into 2020. When I think of Color of the Year, I think of a color that encompasses the current affairs in the climate, politics, social, and trends. Given that we live in a Trump-era, dealing with a lot of political coverage about several topics, climate change, the larger acceptance of different lifestyles, and the growing hustle economy, it didn’t give me Classic Blue vibes.
So what is my pick for Color of the Year? It would have to be a kind of dark orange. The exact Pantone color would be between Pantone 151 C or Pantone 2025 C or something along those lines.
The Psychology of Orange
Orange is a mix of red and yellow, two colors that calls to mind feelings of excitement, enthusiasm, and warmth. In some cases, orange can be too distracting and used as a way to get attention. Think of traffic signs. Given the strong political climate we live in, it perfectly ties in with the different voices trying to be heard. Hell, even the president is orange…literally.
teflar x ssense
Exclusive Shopper Tote in Orange
But it’s also becoming a color that is being used often in fashion. Beyonce’s Ivy Park x adidas collab will feature this shade of orange mixed with a natural beige and deep red wine. Teflar also released a bag in collaboration with luxury retailer SSENSE in the same orange color. Sites like Who What Wear claimed it as color to wear for 2020, WWD named a lighter shade of orange as the shade that doesn’t seem to go out of style, Fashionista wrote about how it was a recurring color often seen in London Fashion Week Men’s (yes, even the men are in on the orange color trend), and more.
While Classic Blue is a good color for a world where we are beginning to be open to genderless ideals, Orange is a better representation of the millennial demographic being between nostalgia and fun and having to deal with “adulting”. It’s a generation that’s budding from teenage/college years to being young adults with mortgages, taxes, kids, marriage, and more. But those things haven’t stopped that generation from giving up fun, traveling, indulging in experiences, and seeking wellness in mind, body and spirit. While crippling debt, inflation, bad politics, lack of home ownership and more can easily succumb this generation into an unwanted black hole of hopelessness, they are still alive and kicking with optimism and speaking out against injustices.