Pantone’s Color of the Year 2017 is Greenery (for a peak at this shade of green, follow this link http://www.pantone.com/color-of-the-year-2017). Every market is currently saturated with the color. And as an environmental psychologist, I’m happy to learn that we may see more of the color green around us in the year ahead, although the particular shade selected by Pantone may be somewhat problematic.
First, the challenge of working with Greenery: Greenery is a yellow-green, the sort of shade that is more of a hit with designer types than the overall population. Across the planet, the most disliked colors generally are those that are yellow-yellow green, just a little more yellowish than Greenery. Rigorously conducted study after study has shown that yellow-yellow greens are unpopular, and that blue is most likely to be selected by study participants as their favorite color, no matter where on the planet you ask the question. People who think about and work with colors a lot develop different relationships with colors than those who lack their training and generally like yellow-yellow greens more than the population at large – another reason to ask a set of truly typical space or object users for their opinions, and to listen to what they have to say – before finalizing any color selections.
Another reason I’m pleased with the selection of a green as the Pantone Color of the Year: looking at greens has been linked, via rigorous scientific research, to enhanced creative thinking, and it seems that to move forward productively in the current political/social climate, a lot of creativity will be required. Enough said on that point.
In its announcement of the Color of the Year 2017, Pantone links green with rejuvenation and revitalization, as well as nature: “A refreshing and revitalizing shade, Greenery is symbolic of new beginnings. Greenery is a fresh and zesty yellow-green shade that evokes the first days of spring when nature’s greens revive, restore and renew. Illustrative of flourishing foliage and the lushness of the great outdoors, the fortifying attributes of Greenery signals consumers to take a deep breath, oxygenate and reinvigorate.”
People living in other parts of the world have different, sometimes less positive, associations to green hues –another important reason to get user input before finalizing color selections.
Selecting Greenery as its Color of the Year 2017 was a good way for Pantone to kick off what may be a challenging 12 months for all of us. Bravo to Pantone and all the best to you in 2017!
Sally Augustin, PhD, a cognitive scientist, is the editor of Research Design Connections (www.researchdesignconnections.com), a monthly subscription newsletter and free daily blog, where recent and classic research in the social, design, and physical sciences that can inform designers’ work are presented in straightforward language. Readers learn about the latest research findings immediately, before they’re available elsewhere. Sally, who is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, is also the author of Place Advantage: Applied Psychology for Interior Architecture (Wiley, 2009) and, with Cindy Coleman, The Designer’s Guide to Doing Research: Applying Knowledge to Inform Design (Wiley, 2012). She is a principal at Design With Science (www.designwithscience.com) and can be reached at sallyaugustin@designwithscience.com.