I knew it couldn’t last. My love affair with Pantone, that is.
Pantone’s Color of the Year for 2009 was Mimosa, a vivid, deep yellow.
I wept with joy upon hearing that news, following as it did on the heels of Pantone’s 2008 Color of the Year, Blue Iris, which was a deep, semi-tacky royal blue. Blue Iris was hard to wear, hard to decorate with…it was just hard all over.
For 2010, Pantone has knighted “Turquoise” its Color of the Year. (That’s Pantone #15-5519 for you playing along at home.)
Turquoise. Why are my associations with that color so unfortunate?
Could it be the “If One is Good, 38 are Better” motto of the Turquoise Jeweler’s Guild?
Or the regrettable color partnerships in which it’s forced to participate? Put it with purple and peach, and you capture the whole Southwestern vibe that I just don’t understand.
Pair it with magenta, and you’re venturing into Ruthless People territory.
See the problem?
Now, if we called it Peacock, or Robin’s Egg Blue, or even Tiffany Blue, I could get on board. I don’t object to those colors, which have a tiny bit more blue in them than Turquoise.
But the mere word “turquoise” reminds me of something a dear friend and client said when accompanying me to a crafts show: “If you see me APPROACH anything that could be called ‘wearable art,’ remove me immediately.”
Pantone explains its choice thus:
Combining the serene qualities of blue and the invigorating aspects of green, Turquoise evokes thoughts of soothing, tropical waters and a languorous, effective escape from the everyday troubles of the world, while at the same time restoring our sense of wellbeing.
I mean, sure. It’s earnest, it’s tropical, it’s even escapist…but dare I say that the color itself, in its purest form, art and jewelry associations aside, is a little bit common?
(This from the chick who arguably just painted her office the lightest possible version of Turquoise out there, Benjamin Moore’s Ice Blue. I, of course, was thinking of it as “super super light Robin’s Egg Blue,” not “super super light Turquoise. But the case could be made.)
I suppose that a “Color of the Year” needs to resonate with everyone…I guess you can’t be too subtle about it.
Well, no fear of that with Turquoise. It’s about as subtle as a black eye.
Especially when paired with magenta. Ugh.
Thank you, Fauxology, which broke this news to me via Twitter.
