Will 2022 be a year of restless creativity? Pantone, a company known for its color swatches, seems to think so. In tribute to this optimistic line of thinking, it’s named Very Peri, a purplish shade that it says emblematizes inventiveness, as its color for the coming year.
But “purplish” may be a limited descriptor for what Pantone labels “a dynamic periwinkle blue hue with a vivifying violet red undertone.” Number 17-3938 in Pantone’s catalogue, Very Peri is meant to carry with it a sense of liveliness and vigor.
“Blending the faithfulness and constancy of blue with the energy and excitement of red, this happiest and warmest of all the blue hues introduces an empowering mix of newness,” Pantone said in its announcement.
According to Pantone, Very Peri’s selection was also a response to a burgeoning sector of the digital sphere in which hues such as this one can be seen with some degree of frequency. Its statement referred to the metaverse, a catch-all phrase for a world in which the boundaries between digital and physical have fully imploded. In recent months, the term has been popularized by Facebook and other tech companies.
The pandemic was not mentioned in Pantone’s statement about Very Peri, nor was it last year, when the company named two colors of the year for 2021: Ultimate Gray and Illuminating. When Pantone picked Ultimate Gray and Illuminating, it also sounded an upbeat note, claiming that, put side by side, those two hues were “a color combination that gives us resilience and hope.”
