Why Classic Blue you might ask? Well, it’s all to do with the Pantone Colour Institute’s Colour choice of the Year. And this year, it’s Classic Blue, a shade reminiscent of the sky at dusk. In choosing Colour 19-4052 – or Classic Blue to you and me - the Pantone Colour Institute settled on a shade it felt offered reassurance, confidence and connection in an uncertain global environment. True to its’ name, Classic Blue can be elegant, reflective, regal and restrained but it can be boundless and edgy too. For those with a warm skin tone, your classic blue will be bright or marine navy. A French or deep navy will suit a cool skin tone.
Some argue that blue is the most democratic of colours because it means all things to all people – hence its’ universal appeal. Consider the calm and serenity of pale blue or the quality and dignity of navy for example. Not everyone is convinced with the Institute’s preferred hue for 2020 though. Writing in Dezeen, Michelle Ogundehin thinks that in playing it safe, the Institute has failed to pick up on the dominant narrative elsewhere – the colour green, associated with optimism, rebirth, regrowth and the wider ecological story that’s top of the cultural agenda right now.
What do you think? Planting our collective (green) feet and a lot of trees firmly on the ground… or having our collective (blue) heads in the clouds?!
Credits: ‘Pantone chooses a classic for its 2020 Colour of the Year’ by Kirsi Goldynia for CNN Style, 5 December 2019; ‘In choosing blue, Pantone has missed the mark once more’ by Michelle Ogundehin for Dezeen, 10 December 2019; Hello December 2019/January 2020/February 2020 and, Vogue November 2019.