Magenta gets her energizing moment

The Pantone Color of the Year 2023—Viva Magenta Pantone 18-1750—is synonymous with strength and of optimism.

This year's star is related to the connection to nature, its duration through the centuries and its future, according to Pantone Color Institute Executive Director Leatrice Eiseman.

Viva Magenta is a powerful and uplifting hue - the point being that it "encourages the expression of unrestrained self, is dynamic and electrifying," said Eiseman. The need for balmy calm and tranquility is undeniable after the events of the past three years, but energy is also required "to get us through that next hurdle - wherever it takes us,” she said.

The fact that participants in Pantone's color association studies consistently rate reds as exciting and dynamics is another advantage. "These words will help take us into the future and away from any concerns we may still have. And we are doing it. COVID[-19] has not completely gone away. It gives us the energy we need to balance what happened and where we are going in the future,” she said.

Appropriately, given these favorable times for working from home, Viva Magenta is a "hybrid color , blending a warmth and a coolness, which equally depict the physical and the virtual," she said. Performing in front of a color-appreciating audience, Pantone hosted the big reveal on Thursday night at Art Basel in Miami.

With the global attention the color of the year is now attracting, consumers can not only see , hear or learn more about Viva Magenta, but they will also soon be able to cross its shelves.

Technology-driven Artechouse has created "the Magentaverse", a multi-sensory collaborative exhibition with Pantone that features venues inspired by Viva Magenta, which will open to the public on Saturday for a limited time in Miami. Along the way, ticket holders will take part in explorations of design, space and technology inspired by NASA and Pantone sponsors Motorola, Lenovo, Spoonflower and other brands amplifying Viva Magenta.

To bring it all to life, Pantone and creative partner Huge crafted a design experience to dive into the back and forth between new technologies and human creativity. Working with AI tool Midjourney, they created Viva Magenta's "visual manifestation" to provide an immersive world. The key visual was designed in part with artificial intelligence.

From Pantone's point of view, the choice not only shows that what comes from nature is real , but also spins it into the future when it comes to AI. "We thought it was a great color to do that. It's definitely time to do the red family again," Eiseman said.

This crimson is also similar to carmine red, which is rooted in cochineal dye and was the one of the earliest dyes came entirely from nature, Eiseman said. Somewhat primordial, ancient color dates back eons as one of the earliest ways humans first dyed their objects, but the AI ​​factor presents it as more futuristic. As consumers become increasingly interested in parting ways with synthetics and returning to nature (not just as a retreat) "to color our clothes and our world around us", Pantone felt that spotlighting the one of the brightest dyes made perfect sense, she said.

To hint at the color, Pantone features a small beetle in part of the promotional material 'year . “No matter what happens in the world – it exists and is still out there. We thought it was the epitome of getting back to nature and survival,” Eiseman said. “But at the same time, we look to the future with the Magentaverse, an unexpected, exciting...