Mood Plus Attitude: 2016 Pantone Color of the Year

9/24/2018

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It’s a first! Blending a warm rose tone with a cool tranquil blue, the color pros at Pantone Color Institute have named two shades, Rose Quartz and Serenity, the 2016 Color of the Year.

In these uncertain and stressful times, the pairing reflects “. . . connection and wellness as well as a soothing sense of order and peace,” says Pantone Executive Director Leatrice Eiseman.

Marketers and graphic designers might consider the combo when planning print communications in the coming year. The duo pairs well with greens, purples and browns for those who want to add visual weight to their more airy look and feel. With packaging becoming increasingly more tied into lifestyle color trends, the combination of Serenity and Rose Quartz is a natural fit for many kinds of packaging materials, Pantone suggests.

Color is just one key element of your branding that give definition to what makes your organization unique in the minds of customers, suppliers, employees and the world at large. Other considerations are typography, layout, tone of voice, and logos and other graphics.

Logos are typically the central defining visual element. Most businesses have various versions of their company or divisional logos to accommodate full-color or one-color applications, smaller renderings on promotional items or large depictions on signage that may be strongly vertical or horizontal.

Two quick tips:

1. Conduct a visual audit of all of your sales and marketing materials at year-end (stationery, signage, advertising, print communications, digital properties, etc.) to see if you’re presenting a consistent brand image across customer touchpoints.
2. Take a look at your closest competitors, and objectively identify their strengths and weaknesses in brand presentation.

Is there opportunity to up your game with more uniformity and consistency? We’ve worked with many companies who saw an opportunity to make some tweaks to their branding with a refreshed logo design, new content for websites and printed marketing materials, and more standardized signs and banners.

Let us know if you need some help with your audit or producing new materials to drive business in 2016.