Introducing the Pantone Color of the Year (and what it means)

I have been very fortunate, as the Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute, to be involved in the selection and rationale for the Pantone Color of the Year each year. And, as we’ve just chosen this year’s color, I thought it was a good time to give a little history about the Color of the Year and talk a bit about what is behind this year’s choice.

It all started in 1999. Pantone kept getting calls and mail (there were no texts then!) about what color would best represent the coming new millennium. To answer, I was called upon to come up with a color that symbolically best represented the future. At the time there was an enormous amount of concern about the clocks stopping and other weirdness happening at the turn of the new century—remember Y2K?—but at the same time, people were also expressing some optimistic hopes about what the future could bring. I opted to focus on the positive and recommended a color that presented a brighter picture of what the future could hold. It was Pantone’s Cerulean Blue, a shade that speaks to constancy, trust, tranquility, peacefulness, and dependability; a hue that represents the vastness of the sky and what might lie beyond.

We were frankly astonished at the amount of interest that was generated, especially coming from the media. Our goal was to start a conversation about color—and we certainly did that! With so much interest, we really couldn’t leave it at just that year. So every year since then, we’ve selected a color of the year that is felt to be the most representative of the “zeitgeist” that best expresses what people are looking in the coming months. This includes their aspirations and longings, and serves as an expression of a mood and an attitude. Through the years, the Pantone Color of the Year program has become a globally iconic cultural touchstone, drawing attention to the ways in which what is taking place in our global culture is reflected and expressed through the language of color.

So now, (imagine a drum roll):

The Pantone Color of the Year 2024: Peach Fuzz 13-1023

What is Peach Fuzz? It is a compassionate and nurturing soft peach shade conveying a heartfelt kindness, a velvety gentle peach whose all-embracing spirit enriches mind, body, and soul.

At a time of turmoil in many aspects of our lives, our need for nurturing, empathy, and compassion grows ever stronger—as does our yearning for a more peaceful future. A warm and cozy shade that highlights our desire for togetherness and the feeling of sanctuary this creates, PANTONE 13-1023 Peach Fuzz presents a fresh approach to a new softness. Subtly sensual, it is a heartfelt peach hue that brings a feeling of tenderness and communicates a message of caring and sharing, community and collaboration.

Sensitive but sweet and airy, PANTONE 13-1023 Peach Fuzz evokes a new modernity. While centered in the human experience of enriching and nurturing the mind, body, and soul, it is also a quietly sophisticated and contemporary peach with depth—one whose gentle lightness is understated but impactful and brings beauty to the digital world. Poetic and romantic, a clean peach tone with a vintage vibe, PANTONE 13-1023 Peach Fuzz reflects the past yet has been rephrased to have a contemporary ambiance.

In the words of my close cohort and friend, Laurie Pressman, VP of the Pantone Color Institute: “With this year’s Pantone Color of the Year 2024, we see an increased focus on community and people across the world, reframing how they want to live and evaluating what is important—that being the comfort of being close to those we love. The color is one whose warm and welcoming embrace conveys a message of compassion and whose cozy sensibility brings people together and enriches the soul.”