Colour is a key element in marketing and it plays a crucial role in creating a visual identity for a company or a product. In fact, the colour influences the people’s perception of things, influencing their emotions and their choice. Colour influences and dictates style trends in fashion, graphics and design. When it comes to garments, the colour is even a more important identification tool. For example, the school uniforms have usually a distinctive colour that makes them recognisable, as well as the workwear that can be distinguished by a specific colour that identifies the sector where you work or even a level of hazard.
Colour has also a strong psychological influence, evoking emotions and associations with certain products or companies. For example, red is often associated with energy and action, blue with calm and confidence, and green with nature and health. It is very important to carefully choose the garments colours, as these have a direct impact on the people’s perception of the brand or of the product. For example, for a company that produces sportswear, could be more suitable to use vibrant and energetic colours, while for a company that produces office clothing, it might be more indicated to use more neutral and professional colours.
Bright, matt, vivid, saturated… there are so many ways to describe a colour. But if we want to indicate a specific colour, how can we do it? In the field of paints, is being used a code called RAL, while for all the other fields we use the Pantone code, which over the time has become synonymous with “colour” and also coincides with the name of the US company that created the Pantone Matching System, an unique classification system where each shade corresponds to a single numerical code. Since 1999, every year is being chosen and defined a colour as the “Pantone Colour of the Year”: the first one was Cerulean, a powdered blue situated somewhere between blue and teal blue.
Few weeks ago, the Colour of the Year 2023 title has been awarded to PANTONE, Viva Magenta 18-750, a colour that vibrates with strength and vigour, belonging to the red colour family. This shade represents a new idea of strength and promotes an optimistic and joyful experience, encouraging unlimited self-expression. Viva Magenta is a hybrid colour that is transiting between the physical and virtual worlds, radiating dynamism. The selection of this colour reflects a constantly increasing concern for nature and for the protection of our environment, and the inspiration comes from the cochineal insect that produces a scarlet-coloured dye.
Viva Magenta combines the strength and vitality of natural materials with the opportunities of the digital world, creating an expansive authenticity. This colour represents a balance between courage and fun, inspiring confidence and courage to express your personality. The Colour of the Year 2023 acknowledges the attraction of natural colours, for instance all the campaigns against the climate change, for sustainability and for protecting the Earth. In the process of selecting the Colour of this Year, Pantone witnessed an increased appreciation and awareness for the nature, represented by many lifestyle trends.
We are bringing more living things into our homes, such as plants, flowers, living walls and regenerative outdoor spaces. We find new inspiration and delight in travelling, sports and outdoor leisure activities after the pandemic times, when they were forbidden. We are taking more care of our health, as a result of the public sanitary crisis and we try to use and eat more reliable and nutritious food and ingredients. How to dress Viva Magenta? Just wearing the Colour of the Year, is enough for sending out a clear message, or combining it with a less gaudy outfit that also works great as an accessory: match it with light greys, blues or pastel shades.
Do you want to embrace a monochromatic trend? Try it with some other pink shades and it will stand out in the room. As Viva Magenta is a red shade that strikes a balance between warm and cool, it doesn’t create a heavy look when wearing it. It inspires instead a feeling of fun and celebration. After three years of a pandemic, a war, an unstable economy, social unrest, supply chain disruptions and an increasingly severe climate change, we need to heal, to find the motivation to move forward, and colour can be a cure, protecting us with strength and grace and sending us out into the world with the so much-needed vitality. •
di by
ALESSANDRO MARTEMUCCI
Lean Marketing Manager
OFFICINAE LEAN & DIGITAL MARKETING
Via Passarelli 99, Matera (I) – Tel. +39 0835 333321
info@officinae.com www.officinae.com
DETERGO Magazine # March 2023
