As always, each new year brings with it new design trends. Designers across all creative disciplines—fashion, product design, packaging, graphic design, and, yes, architecture and interior design—are preparing for the coming year by evaluating these trends and using the information they gather to improve their craft.
Predicting these trends can be rather challenging, but one source the industry can turn to is Pantone. Or, more specifically, Pantone’s Color of the Year.
Each year, a group of Pantone’s design experts from around the world declares one hue, Color of the Year, based not so on its look as the feeling one should experience when looking at it. The yearly announcement establishes trendsetting concepts for branding, marketing and creative society as a whole, and offers a snapshot of the color’s role in global culture.
Recently, Pantone announced its selection for the 2022 Color of the Year: PANTONE 17-3938, Very Peri. Described as displaying, “a carefree confidence and a daring curiosity that animates our creative spirit,” Very Peri is the first new color designed intentionally as the Color of the Year; all previous selections were made from existing colors in the Pantone Color System.
We turned to SHP’s interior design dream team to get their take on this year’s announcement. Here’s what they had to say:
Carrie Malatesta, Director of Interior Design
I enjoy looking at the Pantone Color of the Year. However, we have to be careful with color selections on our education projects. The palette needs to be timeless.
It is interesting how colors cycle in and out of popularity. This purple reminds me of the violet carpet I had in my childhood bedroom in the 80’s— just a little more on the gray side!
Molly Kerth, Senior Interior Designer
I’m typically not a fan of blues and purples, but I don’t mind this one. Very Peri is a versatile, cool color for the colder months and a floral hue for spring and summer. I can see this as a gender-neutral accent used in education, depending on your interpretation: Is it blue, or is it purple? On the other hand, I could see it as a bit of a fad color. The hue is pretty intense and could get old quickly.
Jenny Gallow, Senior Interior Designer
As a color, I like it—but as part of an interior color scheme, I think it’s tricky.
People tend to either love or hate purple. In K-12 projects, we need to stick with timeless colors, colors that represent and are beloved by the community. A shade with such a strong gut like/dislike reaction may be a challenge.
McKenzie Goyert, Interior Designer
Very Peri is a color that serves the meaning of juxtaposition well. After 18 months of uncertainty, we, as designers, are using color to rejuvenate spaces and delight those who inhabit them. Veri Peri encapsulates the transition in the literal sense—the middle ground between “true” blue and “true” purple–and the transition to our “new normal.”
I believe Veri Peri will stay popular longer than the typical life of a Pantone Color of the Year—and be one of the most symbolic. Being in the blue family resonates well with the majority and can symbolize success and confidence, feelings we are all hoping to embody most this year.