Archinect - News

Peach Fuzz is the 2024 Pantone Color of the Year

2023-12-07T14:37:00-05:00

Pantone has selected "Peach Fuzz" as its official Color of the Year for 2024. Twelve months after announcing "Viva Magenta" as its selection for 2023, the New Jersey-based company continued with the springtime palette with a light and bright color they claim will have an impact on an increasingly turbulent and divisive world.

"In seeking a hue that echoes our innate yearning for closeness and connection, we chose a color radiant with warmth and modern elegance," the Pantone Color Institute’s Executive Director Leatrice Eiseman describes. "A shade that resonates with compassion, offers a tactile embrace, and effortlessly bridges the youthful with the timeless."

A staple of many modern-day cosmetics boutiques, coffee shops, startup offices, and other retail spaces has also become a runway favorite of late, according to CNN. The company has faced a fair amount of criticism over the 25 years of its program’s development, though as the institute’s Vice President Laurie Pressman explained...

Viva Magenta is Pantone’s Color of the Year for 2023

2023-01-09T17:52:00-05:00

Pantone has announced Viva Magenta as its Color of the Year for 2023, ending a (mostly) blue-gray-hued streak that’s predominated for the past three years.

Offering a “new signal of strength” that’s useful for “writing a new narrative,” the eye-catching shade of red can set the tone for individuals apparently possessing a rebellious spirit and joie de vivre while encouraging a wide range of things, including experimentation, individuality, and inclusiveness.

Pantone’s Executive Director Leatrice Eiseman said: “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.”

Related on Archinect: Color in Architecture — More Than Just Decoration

The company is often criticized for its annual color theory flack that draws on marketing ...

Very Peri is the 2022 Pantone Color of the Year

2021-12-16T15:13:00-05:00

Pantone’s much-heralded Color of the Year has been announced, with “Very Peri” taking the top billing as pastels continue to dominate the annual list.

The lilac-esque shade of blue is supposedly embiotic of the shifts in cultural attitudes and individual expression as we move towards a more progressive and open-minded society.

Pantone identified the color as “Displaying a carefree confidence and a daring curiosity that animates our creative spirit,” adding that the “inquisitive and intriguing Very Peri helps us to embrace this altered landscape of possibilities, opening us up to a new vision as we rewrite our lives. Rekindling gratitude for some of the qualities that blue represents complemented by a new perspective that resonates today.”

The color is very much in vogue this season as fashion retailers have looked to reverse the traditional fall-winter color schemes in favor of a palette more typically associated with spring. Pantone’s secretive selection process typically yields a ...

Into the abyss: An artist has created a deeper shade of black in an ongoing quest for design purity

2021-08-11T13:34:00-04:00

A design world arms race to make the blackest black has intensified this week after an artist revealed his latest creation called Blink.

Stuart Semple created the ink over a period of two years after launching a precursor called Black 3.0 in 2019. The artist had been reacting to the controversy surrounding Anish Kapoor’s being given exclusive rights to Vantablack, the pigment that was initially developed for use on satellites owing to its high absorption rate.

Semple began experimenting with black after a farcical attempt to engineer a purer pink in parody of Kapoor. A more serious effort took shape after the 2019 release and following a beta testing period in which he assembled a team of other artists and designers to provide feedback for the darker and more opaque shade.

“Chemically there are similarities, but the acrylic resin in Black 3.0 is fundamentally different in Blink because we nee...

Pantone has selected 2021's "color(s) of the year" – should architects care?

2020-12-10T16:04:00-05:00

The announcement of the Pantone Color of the Year seems to cause the media to stir every year. While everyone jumps on the hype showcasing how "excited" they are, how do color trends impact architects?

Don't get me wrong; I love seeing the use of color in projects. The study of color theory is valuable and impacts a project tremendously. Verner Panton and Josef Albers are probably two of the most recognizable color aficionados in design, amongst others, but do these yearly trends make their way into built projects?

While the public may "welcome" the 2021 color of the year (PANTONE 17-5104 Ultimate Gray + PANTONE 13-0647 Illuminating), its announcement is more of a reminder that color trends don't have much weight unless they're used and applied.

To see color in action we've gathered eleven projects featured on Archinect that celebrate color and its use.

Elementary School Vřesovice/Reconstruction of Baroque Rectory by Public Atelier

Elementary School Vřesovice/Reconstruction of Ba...

Pantone's 2020 Color of the Year does more than define trends, it aims to evoke a color language of dependability and resonance

2019-12-05T13:03:00-05:00

Color plays an important role in architecture. Whether it's to create a mood or embellish on an interior's detail colors helps architects and designers convey many things, some have made entire careers out of color and its uses. Just ask Verner Panton, Josef Albers, or Paul Klee, color and color theory is a specialization that shouldn't be overlooked.

The Pantone Color Institute, the world leader in global color research and trends, has announced the Pantone Color of the Year for 2020. PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue will is the color many have been praising since Pantone made the announcement.

Image © Pantone.

Leatrice Esieman, the executive director of the Pantone Color Institute shares in a press statement, "We are living in a time that requires trust and faith. It is this kind of constancy and confidence that is expressed by Pantone 19-4052 Classic Blue, a solid and dependable blue hue we can always rely on. Imbued with a deep resonance, Classic Blue provides and anchoring foundat...

Would you wear these Bauhaus-inspired Nike shoes?

2019-06-27T17:39:00-04:00

Perhaps the dream shoe for any Bauhaus enthusiast looking to stay "fresh," Nike has released their Nike Air Max 270 React with a lead colorway paying homage to the iconic Bauhaus school. The vibrant color palette would make any color theorist jump with excitement. The blue, red, yellow, and turquoise color accents are synonymous with the school — sure to catch the attention of any architecture or sneaker enthusiast.

Image © Nike

Nike shares in their June news announcement, "The initial release of the Nike Air Max 270 React share a consistent foundation in art and design history. Each colorway translates a specific artistic style or movement in its blocking and hues. The lead launch colorway, for example, heralds the 100th anniversary of the Bauhaus's founding by recalling the school’s formal studies of asymmetrical balance." Nike notes the shoe will have other color options inspired by "mid-century color blocking" and "San Francisco psychedelia."

Image © Nike

If Kandinsky...

What color are your office walls? How color and lighting shapes mood and productivity in the office

2019-01-10T15:27:00-05:00

The office is where the general public will spend 1/3 of their life. Unless you've jumped on the "working remotely" craze, many work in office buildings/complexes that haven't changed since 1999. The common color palette of an office is usually a mixture of neutral tones like beige and subdued grays. Although, with the appearance of trending communal workspaces and open floor office concepts, the general public still identifies office settings to resemble sets seen in The Office or Office Space. However, an office's color palette and lighting may be more important than you think. Architects and designers are designing offices that not only look better but interact with the senses to evoke happier and more productive staff.

Now don't get me wrong, many companies have given their office spaces a facelift over the years by implementing an assortment of "trending" office interior upgrades. Glass wall di...

Two words, six digits...Pantone's 2019 Color of the Year is Living Coral

2018-12-06T13:17:00-05:00

"Color is the place where our brain and the universe meet." Famed artist Paul Klee said it best when it comes to describing color and its importance in our lives. With that said, Pantone, a leader in color matching and color systems has announced the 2019 Color of the Year.

Designers, artists, and architects alike know how much color and its presence and absence influence design. For the past 20 years, Pantone has released its annual color of the year to the public. Influential in various aspects of the industry, the announcement influences product development, purchasing decisions, graphic design, and more in multiple industries. The search for new color influences is what the company's color experts scour the world for.

The Pantone Color Institute is an entity within Pantone that researches and highlights global color trends and seasonal runway colors while advising companies on color a...

Foundation by Volkan Alkanoglu & Matthew Au

2018-01-15T13:09:00-05:00

Volkan Alkanoglu has a prolific history of producing provocative interventions that playfully embrace the audience while researching and experimenting with the limits of color, geometry, depth and the representational techniques which use them. From his Cloudscape playground in Florida to his eruption of Plumes throughout the country, Volkan has found a delicate balance between tectonics, art, architecture and the image.

image: VA | DESIGN

His most recent addition to his body of work completed with a partnership with Designer Matthew Au is no exception. Foundation, an installation in Lee Hall III, on the Clemson University Campus consists of two formations: the visual and physical extension of the roof form on the wall as a 3Dimensional reading of the building, and the unique and custom folded golden structures which are inspired by the geometry of the building as well as the techniques used by students during their academic studies.

image: VA | DESIGN

The implement...