Is it just us, or did Emerald, the 2013 Pantone Color of the Year, debut to just polite applause last week instead of popular acclaim?
Global color authority Pantone Color Institute certainly did a 180 last week when it announced a bluish, jewel-toned Emerald as the 2013 color. We thought the front-runner was a deep blue, perhaps Monaco Blue, which shows up in its Spring ’13 color forecast. Instead, we’ll be witnessing the Power of Green, which Pantone experts say evokes liveliness, lushness, well-being, new life, prosperity, growth and beauty.
“The idea of being green has grown way past being a trend into a social cause that has deeply permeated the world we live in,” says Laurie Pressman, spokesperson for Pantone, in a webinar last week showcasing the new color choice.
The Colors of the Year are chosen, Laurie says, to reflect the age we are living in, and the green family has been strong for a long time now, partly because of concern for the environment. From construction to cosmetics, almost every industry incorporates some aspect of natural or eco-sensitive ingredients or practices.
The choice is also an antidote to the chaos of our times, she says. Studies say the presence of green makes us slow down, relaxes the heart, and slows our bodies’ production of stress hormones. And because of these beneficial health effects, green is huge in interior–and exterior–building design.
Pantone’s choice of Color of the Year is not so much based on what its trendspotters want to see, Laurie says, but on what they are already seeing. Deep shades of green have been showing up increasingly in a diverse array of areas and industries–including automotive, graffiti art, advertising, textiles, glassware, fashion and even on Hollywood’s red carpets.
(Historically, emerald has quite a pedigree, as well. In the Middle Ages, anxious fathers gave emeralds to their daughters because the stone was thought to ensure chastity. The color has also figured prominently in works by Tiffany, Faberge and avant-garde artist Paul Perot. Oh, and we can’t forget to mention Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With The Wind, wearing her mother’s green velvet drapes stitched up in a post-war frock.)
And in our little quilty corner of the fabric world, Emerald should not be such a surprise. Kathy Miller of Michael Miller Fabrics called it with her “Lagoon” and “Prepster” story boards at Houston Market this past fall, forecasting jewel tones–including emerald–as just one of several color trends for the coming year.
From where we sit, though, early response to the 2013 color seems to have been a bit lukewarm. The GenQ staff, which nearly all loved Tangerine Tango, the 2012 Pantone COTY, seems a bit split on the subject of Emerald. Here’s what everyone had to say:
Scott Hansen, Community Editor–“When I think of ’emerald,’ Pantone’s emerald is not the color that comes to mind. Their version is a little bluer. I think of deeper, purer greens. The color name also conjures up thoughts about my Seattle, the Emerald City, as it is called because we have so much green going down here in the Pacific Northwest. I do love all shades of green, though. Even though I love ALL colors, green is right up there with my favorite color, red.”
Megan Dougherty, Creative Director–“Pantone really threw me for a loop this year with this emerald thing. I knew that the color was called emerald before I actually saw the specific Pantone color, and when I did see it, I realized that I had a different idea of what emerald is in my head. I guess I thought emerald would be a deeper true green, but this has some blue in it, and though I do think that bit of blue is what makes it so lovely, it also made it hard for me to find it. Green is just not a color I gravitate towards, and so there is very little of it in my house to begin with, but every time I thought I found it, I started to get confused: Is this emerald? Or teal? Is this emerald? Or just green?
COMMENT #1
My first thought was the same – too much blue – but it’s really very close to the color of true emeralds, at least the majority of them. The deep, clear color we associate with emeralds comes these days only from laboratory-grown crystals, and in the past only from the very finest specimens. Emeralds make me sad: I know they are the exact same thing and that no miners had to suffer to get them out of the earth, but knowing they take just a year or two in a lab in Bayonne rather than being forged over hundreds of thousands of years by Mother Nature takes all the romance out of them.
COMMENT #2
What’s not to say that Gen Q-ers vote for their own color trend of the year? (hint hint)
Like y’all, I was expecting a shade of blue. While I like the Emerald color they chose, but was puzzled because I haven’t been seeing it out in the market at all — not even close.
COMMENT #3
When I first got the announcement about Emerald being the color of the year, I thought, “ummm … okay ….” and then started feeling rather smug because I *do* have a bit of emerald here and there throughout my home and my closet. I especially love emerald with cobalt blue and or nearly any purple hue. But I digress. When I saw the actual color Pantone is calling “Emerald” I told Better Half I seriously needed new glasses. Like NOW. Because that color is NOT emerald to me. It certainly doesn’t evoke many of those feelings in that graphic at the top of this story – at least not for me. When I think “Emerald” I think deep, rich, luxurious green. Like a lovely Christmas green, or a deeper richer hue of almost-Kelly green. I agree with most everyone else there’s more blue in this “Emerald” than I would expect, and it’s much softer than I would envision. But you know what? It sure has sparked some conversation among color-lovers, now hasn’t it? And that can only be good!
COMMENT #4
Mneh. When I think of emerald, I think of a clear, bright, saturated color, suitable for leprechauns, the rolling hills of Ireland and beauteous gems. This ain’t it.
COMMENT #5
I think it’s the perfect color for our times: ambivalent, indecisive, uncommitted. Is it blue? Is it green? The Girl Scouts moved to a more vivid green a few years ago and chose away from a shade similar to this.
COMMENT #6
Well, I read about “Pantone”(whoever that is) from another blog. I’m not into the so called “Fashion scene” I like what I like and dont particularly care to have someone tell me what the “In” color for the year is. I just may not be in the mood to wear whatever various shades of emerald green there are. Right now I like Royal blue. So does this mean I wont be able to find fabric, clothes, shoes in the color I want? Who knows.
COMMENT #7
That’s my solution, always look at the source; this time a “real’ emerald.
COMMENT #8
I love green, but I’m not immediately in love with the color Pantone is calling Emerald. To me this appears washed out, not what I expected from a “jewel” color. I loved Tangerine Tango – it definitely fit in with my own trend for the year – so maybe Emerald will grow on me. But I imagine I’ll be using lots of greens in the next year, just like always!
COMMENT #9
When I heard emerald was Pantone’s choice ~ I thought ‘yuck ~ what an awful color. Everything’s going to be emerald green this year.’ Don’t get me wrong, I love green and wear it quite a lot, it’s just not a color I pick when making quilts or anything else for that matter.
Emerald should be a stone not the color of the year.
COMMENT #10
If I was shown that color chip, without the name attached, I wouldn’t have called it Emerald. Because it has so much blue though, I do like it – I’m a big fan of blue-greens & always have been. It was my favorite color in the crayon box! Let’s see where we go from here.
COMMENT #11
Funny I was talking to Jake about this the other night, and she was not in love with the color. Personally, I was not that happy about it, but yesterday I went to Macy’s and that color is every where. I did find myself wanting a sweater in emerald, but I don’t think I would like a whole dress in that color. I think it will be a fun accent color, but I don’t see it becoming my main color.
COMMENT #12
Boring. From other sites talk about it, I thought it was going to be a pretty blue this year. This is too muddy and I havent seen much quilt fabric that color.
COMMENT #13
My first reaction was that it looks more like an Olfa rotary cutting mat than a jewel. 🙂 It reminded me that I need to buy a bigger one!
COMMENT #14
I like green. It’s one of the most plentiful colors in my stash. But this color is not emerald green to me – too blue and too flat. Emerald is rich, like the greens of the Emerald City of Oz. I’m pretty sure that while I might be buying more jewel tones this year, this pretender will not be one of them. What a disappointing color of the year. :-/