For over 20 years, Pantone Color of the Year has played a leading role in product development and purchasing decisions across almost every industry. From fashion to industrial design, product packaging, home furnishings to art collections and even manufacturing, the current Color of the Year guides decision making and sets the standard for retail audiences across the world.
Needless to say, arriving at the annual Color of Year does not come without thoughtful selection and careful analysis. So...how does Pantone narrow down a decision as important as this one? Their color experts scout the world looking for new influences across the board— that’s how. Everything from popular travel destinations, art collections, lifestyle trends, even films in production, influence the decision. Anything and everything that has a presence in pop culture plays a role and impacts the final Color of the Year selection.
Allow us to Introduce 2020’s Classic Blue
Classic Blue. A deep, introspective and nostalgic color. When you think of blue, you might immediately be drawn to the sky, the ocean, a flowing river, landscape and serene environments in general. The color exhibits inner security and confidence. It’s loyal, responsible, honest, sincere and sometimes even a little reserved.
Instilling calm, confidence, and connection, this enduring blue hue highlights our desire for a dependable and stable foundation on which to build as we cross the threshold into a new era.
This serene hue has already played a vital role in design decisions this year - even after only two months! From fashion trends that impact spring retail campaigns to branding / rebranding efforts, signage, print / digital designs and really all aspects of marketing, our team is looking to Pantone for color and design inspiration.
Apparel and Home Goods
The fashion runways of New York, Paris and Milan set the standard for retailer apparel decisions. Heading into March and beginning of spring fashion campaigns, we’re seeing BLUE play a leading role. The always classic, blue denim hit the runway and is showing up across retail floors as we speak. From vintage, to distressed and short and cropped, all shades and styles are must-haves for your spring wardrobe.
Our team of stylists paired fun and flirty denim-inspired looks for Spring in our client’s upcoming TangerStyle Spring collection.
Commercial Real Estate (CRE)
Building renovations and commercial design decisions also lean heavily on Color of the Year influences, what’s currently hot in the market, and what will resonate with tenants to create environments that both make a statement and promote efficiencies in the workplace. Our commercial clients routinely invest annual budget dollars into building enhancements that ultimately impact design and marketing. Take Accesso for example. We recently helped launch a full-scale corporate rebrand for them - complete with the brand new tenant amenities program, Accesso Club. A major part of the rebrand included color theory and selection. Accesso redefines the CRE norms and wanted their brand to reflect the different approach they take to their owner/operator role. And, as you can see from the creative, Classic Blue played a major role in the development of their new brand identity and trickled down to every layer of their tenant amenities programming for Accesso Club.
Brand Development
As 30+ year advertising and marketing pros, branding is at the forefront of our client services and is truly what we do best. We bring our clients’ stories to life through impactful design and creative storytelling, all of which stem from unique brand identities and POV’s. Harrison Development & Construction, a professional, custom home builder based in Metro Atlanta, came to infinitee for our retail flare and branding expertise when they wanted to rebrand their organization. And, you guessed it, at the forefront of the new visual identity and brand redevelopment - Classic Blue. It’s a color that draws inspiration and inspires confidence, everything we wanted to convey for the new Harrison Homes. Their team also happened to be partial to blue!
Whether you’re looking for a spring fashion fix, are designing (or redesigning) marketing materials for your brand, or taking on a home renovation project, draw inspiration from Pantone’s Color of the Year: Classic Blue. Until next year when the new color is introduced, we’ll be buzzing about classic blue.
