Pantone Announces Lively “Viva Magenta” as the 2023 Color of the Year

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Every year, Pantone announces its color for the new year, which hopes to inspire creators across all fields. Now, the intense and eye-catching Viva Magenta 18-1750 has been named as the Color of the Year 2023, evoking feelings of celebration and possibility after a few rough years. This shade, which has its origins in a natural red dye, signals the world of design is ready to come back roaring, especially in the digital realm.

“In this age of technology, we look to draw inspiration from nature and what is real. Pantone 18-1750 Viva Magenta descends from the red family, and is inspired by the red of cochineal, one of the most precious dyes belonging to the natural dye family as well as one of the strongest and brightest the world has known,” writes American color specialist Leatrice Eiseman. “Rooted in the primordial, Pantone 18-1750 Viva Magenta reconnects us to original matter. Invoking the forces of nature, Pantone 18-1750 Viva Magenta galvanizes our spirit, helping us to build our inner strength.”

Pantone has selected Viva Magenta 18-1750 for its brave and fearless qualities, as well as the exuberance and optimism it awakes in a world looking for new beginnings and blank slates. “It is a new animated red that revels in pure joy, encouraging experimentation and self-expression without restraint, an electrifying, and a boundaryless shade that is manifesting as a stand-out statement,” explains the Pantone team.

This is the first time since 2011 that Pantone has named a deep pink red as its color of the year, harkening back to the Honeysuckle shade of that year and then even further back to Fuchsia Rose of 2001. However, this seems distinctively more electric—and electronic, firmly stating the futuristic approach of this color. The New York Times experts even pointed out that Viva Magenta is quite similar to TikTok’s “follow” and “upload” buttons.

Its digital origins and reaches are accentuated with the introduction of a “Magentaverse,” an accompanying palette of muted and neutral hues that complement yet let Viva Magenta shine through, selected by A.I. tool Midjourney as an “endless new ecosystem to be explored.” A hybrid color that harmoniously mixes warm and cool, it also creates a bridge between real and digital, and all the creative possibilities that emerge from these multi-platform exchanges.