Pantone’s 2022 Color of the Year Revealed as “Very Peri”

In an announcement that is always celebrated, reviled and discussed ad nauseum by armchair design experts and color fans, the Pantone Color Institute has officially selected and announced its Color of the Year for 2022. The color, meant to symbolize and predict the tenor of the coming year, has been dubbed “Very Peri.” As the name would no doubt imply, the shade is a form of periwinkle blue, although this one has distinct red undertones. It’s a unique selection for Pantone, being the first time that the color institute has ever manufactured a new color themselves for the Color of the Year rather than selecting one from their endless archive.

“It was really important for us to come up with a new color, because we have a very new vision of the world now,” said Pantone Color Institute’s Executive Director Leatrice Eiseman in a conference call. “It is literally the happiest and the warmest of all the blue hues. Because of that red undertone, it introduces an empowering feeling of newness, and newness is what we’re looking for.”