As predicted in the autumn, the new Pantone Colour of the Year is a ‘life-affirming shade of orange with a golden undertone’. But not THAT shade of orange.

Following on from Pantone’s pick for 2018 – a Prince-esque purple called Ultra Violet – the colour and ink company has announced that the Pantone Colour of the Year 2019 will be what it calls ‘Living Coral’.

It’s one of the colours the company noted at the London and New York Fashion Weeks back in the autumn, where Pantone also noticed designers using reds by the names of Fiesta and Jester Red; which also seem appropriate seeing as the world’s run by a bunch of jokers making everyone see red these days.

Living Coral also ties into this as said jesters are destroying the environment, meaning there won’t be a lot of living coral left soon enough, so let’s enjoy it any way we can. Pantone, naturally, has a more positive view of the colour, describing it as ‘nurturing’. 
“Colour is an equalising lens through which we experience our natural and digital realities and this is particularly true for Living Coral,” said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute. “With consumers craving human interaction and social connection, the humanising and heartening qualities displayed by the convivial Pantone Living Coral hit a responsive chord.”

The colour is available in forms for digital, print and textile formats.