After a year of unprecedented times, Pantone the world’s colour authority has made a move that’s as unpredictable as 2020 itself, selecting two shades as 2021’s Colours of the Year instead of one for the second time in the past 20 years: Ultimate Gray and Illuminating.
The two independent but complementary colours are meant to sum up our conflicting moods during the pandemic and highlight how different elements come together to support one another, according to Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute. The union of an enduring Ultimate Gray with the vibrant yellow Illuminating expresses a message of positivity supported by fortitude. Practical and rock solid but at the same time warming and optimistic, this is the colour combination that gives us resilience and hope. We need to feel encouraged and uplifted; this is essential to the human spirit,” she said in a statement.