Recently, the Pantone Color Institute™ announced with much fanfare their “Color of the Year”. The ordained hue for 2017 is “Greenery”, which they describe as a “fresh and zesty yellowish green”, one of “nature’s neutrals”. Since 2012, this division of Pantone® has annually selected and promoted an individual color to the design industry for the coming year.

Just across the river in Alexandria, Virginia, the Color Marketing Group was established in 1962 as a not-for-profit international association for “color design professionals”. Both groups offer a range of services that analyze, forecast, and consult on color trends. This is a real asset to the designers, manufacturers, and marketers of the next generation of consumer goods. A brief survey of the past few decades illustrates these trends, reflected in everything from automobiles and make-up to fashion and home furnishings, as prominent colors burst into the marketplace only to fade away as passé.

There is a direct correlation between how successful or trendy a color is in the marketplace and how soon it will fade and be seen as out-of-style, old. The short life cycle of trends, including colors, are the lifeblood of manufacturers and marketers hawking lifestyle goods and services. They survive by inventing and promoting the next big thing we all must have. While identifying and exploiting color trends works well for the fast-paced consumer goods industry, it may be short sighted for long-term brand building in the less volatile world of non-profits, associations, and institutions.

Here’s where your design team can help by offering expert advice and consultation. What are the mission and vision of your organization, and how might your brand’s color choices reflect those values? Is it time for an evolution of your brand, or merely time to refresh and support an existing legacy identity? Careful consideration might also be given to the psychology of colors, or the international perception of certain hues in different cultural contexts. For example, the color of good luck is red in China, but it is green in the Middle East; in Indonesia, however, green is “the forbidden color”.

Color is one of the most powerful communication tools in graphic design. Use it wisely to differentiate and distinguish your organization, and not merely to be caught up in the latest fad.

“Neither a leader nor a follower be”

—with apologies to Shakespeare

Looking for some guidance on how color can enhance your identity? Email or call us at 301-776-2812 to start the conversation.