The Pantone Color of the Year for 2023 Is Viva Magenta

by Lolly Page

The Pantone Color Institute, the leading global source of color expertise, has traditionally unveiled its Color of the Year in early December, and its 2023 choice is Viva Magenta, a.k.a. Pantone 18-1750.

Pantone labels this color as "a nuanced crimson tone" that balances between warm and cool tones, which is supposed to reflect where we sit between the physical and virtual. The fiery red hue is also described as "an unconventional shade for an unconventional time."

"Viva Magenta is brave and fearless, and a pulsating color whose exuberance promotes a joyous and optimistic celebration, writing a new narrative," the statement says. "Powerful and empowering, 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. PANTONE 18-1750 Viva Magenta welcomes anyone and everyone with the same verve for life and rebellious spirit. It is a color that is audacious, full of wit and inclusive of all."

Pantone 18-1750 Viva Magenta was inspired by the red of cochineal, one of the most precious natural dyes and one of the most vibrant dyes the world has known.

"In this age of technology, we look to draw inspiration from nature and what is real," said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute.

Pantone is engaged in developing and researching colors that designers and advertisers worldwide could use in the future for their work. Since 2000, experts annually choose one color that will set the trend for design, fashion, marketing, and other creative professionals for the following year and reflect the changing shifts in culture and our modern world.

In 2020, Classic Blue was the Color of the Year. In 2021, Pantone picked not one but two defining colors at once (17-5104 Ultimate Gray and 13-0647 Illuminating), which conveyed a message of strength and hopefulness that is both enduring and uplifting.

Last year's color selection was Very Peri Pantone 17-3938, a dynamic periwinkle blue color with an undertone of a violet-red, which combined the familiarity and constancy of blue with the sense of freshness and energy of red and symbolized dynamism, creativity, imagination and moving ahead.