It's true: the only way that you'd have ever seen Pantone's Color of the Year for 2022 before is if you work at the company. "Very Peri," the shade chosen to represent all of 2022, was custom-made by Pantone's color experts to represent their optimistic expectations for our brave new future.
As we've said before, Pantone's Color of the Year picks do an excellent job at summing up the feeling in the moment. Aside from the time that COVID-19 interrupted 2020's selection, the Pantone Color Institute has cannily summarized the cultural mood with impressive frequency.
See, Pantone doesn't necessarily seek to dictate global trends — not everyone is wearing "Illuminating,", of course — it simply aims to intelligently select shades that encapsulate the prevailing attitude, like how "Living Coral" assumed an air of protection amidst 2019's shifting cultural landscape.
"Very Peri," or PANTONE 17-3938 if you wanna get technical, is defined by Pantone as "a dynamic periwinkle blue hue with a vivifying violet red undertone," affecting an air of mindfulness and warmth. Blue is a calming tone, after all, though that gentle red tone adds a little pep.
"As we move into a world of unprecedented change, the selection of PANTONE 17-3938 Very Peri brings a novel perspective and vision of the trusted and beloved blue color family," Leatrice Eiseman, the Pantone Color Institute's executive director, said. "Very Peri displays a spritely, joyous attitude and dynamic presence that encourages courageous creativity and imaginative expression."
Don't call it purple! Very Peri is very much a blend of blue and red, yes, but it's periwinkle through and through. And don't try to argue — no one knows color better than Pantone.
Interestingly, Pantone purports that Very Peri's chill hue lends it an air of organic coolness that acquiesces with the metaverse.
Check out the newly-rebranded Meta's logo or the blue tones that pervade Fortnite — there's some red in them as well.
As you can tell, Very Peri can basically do it all. Pantone has proved that with an ample rollout of accompanying merch, including eco-conscious Cariuma sneakers and mugs, plus a selection of exclusive Microsoft Teams backgrounds affected with the cool color.
