Below is my second article for my school’s magazine. I have always been inspired by how color can affect our moods, transport us to different places, and even bring up nostalgic times. This article was a fascinating write for me, and I hope you will be energized to invigorate some “Ultra Violet” into your life!

“Inventive and Imaginative, Ultra Violet lights the way to what is yet to come.” Pantone, the global authority on color, chose a vibrant and lush variation of the purple hue for its color of the year. Founded in 1962, Pantone established itself as a company that manufactured color cards for cosmetics. As time went on, the company gained fame for its color-matching system that identically matched colors to swatches. Fast forward to 2000 and Pantone was still held in high regards by design professionals everywhere. When the company in the early 2000’s introduced coffee mugs available in every color imaginable, the mugs set off a surge of interest in the Pantone company even more so. When selecting a specific color, whether it be a burnt orange called “Flame” or a light beige-y pink called “Pale Dogwood,” these mugs left plenty of room for self-expression in way of drinking coffee. If there’s any color you’re thinking of, Pantone has it (and even has a specific name for it).

But in the year 2000, Pantone established itself again not only as a color company but as a purveyor of color trends to come by creating a “Color of the Year.” In 2000, it was Cerulean, in 2012 it was “Tangerine Tango,” and so on. Now in 2018, the princely purple color of “Ultra Violet” reigns. According to Leatrice Eiseman, the executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, this year’s color suggests the “mysteries of the cosmos, the intrigue of what lies ahead,” and that there are “discoveries beyond where we are now.” David Bowie and Prince (Purple Rain, anyone?), after their recent passings, are noted as influencers of this choice of color as these two musical icons represent free expression and non-conformity, which is becoming more and more of an accepted lifestyle in our society today. Pantone has always been a company known for its choice in outstanding color, but more than that and more than ever, Pantone makes us see that color is more than just a shade of a dress or the pigment in a lipstick. Color really is an essential component of our lives that helps us express who we really are.