Introducing the Pantone Color of the Year PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue; instilling calm, confidence, and connection, this enduring blue hue highlights our desire for a dependable and stable foundation on which to build as we cross the threshold into a new era.

Pantone, a provider of professional color language standards and digital solutions, and X-Rite Incorporated today announced PANTONE 19-4052, Classic Blue, as the Pantone^® Color of the Year for 2020; a timeless and enduring hue elegant in its simplicity. Suggestive of the sky at dusk, the reassuring qualities of the thought-provoking. PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue highlight our desire for a dependable and stable foundation from which to build as we cross the threshold into a new era.

“We are living in a time that requires trust and faith. It is this kind of constancy and confidence that is expressed by PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue, a solid and dependable blue hue we can always rely on,” said Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute. “Imbued with a deep resonance, PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue provides an anchoring foundation. A boundless blue evocative of the vast and infinite evening sky, PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue encourages us to look beyond the obvious to expand our thinking; challenging us to think more deeply, increase our perspective and open the flow of communication.”

Imprinted in our psyches as a restful color, PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue brings a sense of peace and tranquility to the human spirit, offering refuge. Aiding concentration and bringing laser like clarity, PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue re-centers our thoughts. A reflective blue tone, Classic Blue fosters resilience.

As technology continues to race ahead of the human ability to process it all, it is easy to understand why we gravitate to colors that are honest and offer the promise of protection. Non-aggressive and easily relatable, the trusted PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue lends itself to relaxed interaction. Associated with the return of another day, this universal favorite is comfortably embraced.

“The Pantone Color of the Year highlights the relationship between trends in color and what is taking place in our global culture at a moment in time, a color that reflects what individuals feel they need that color can hope to answer.” added Laurie Pressman, Vice President of the Pantone Color Institute. “As society continues to recognize color as a critical form of communication, and a way to express and affect ideas and emotions, designers and brands should feel inspired to use color to engage and connect. The Pantone Color of the Year selection provides strategic direction for the world of trend and design, reflecting the Pantone Color Institute’s year-round work doing the same for designers and brands.”

To fully bring to life the true meaning of PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue, Pantone has translated PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue into a multi-sensory experience. By extending the sensory reach of PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue, Pantone is hoping to reach a greater diversity of people to provide everyone with an opportunity to engage with the Color of the Year 2020 in their own unique way.

“As we all head into a new era, we wanted to challenge ourselves to find inspiration from new sources that not only evolve our Color of the Year platform, but also help our global audiences achieve richer and more rewarding color experiences,” added Pressman. “This desire, combined with the emotional properties of PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue, motivated us to expand beyond the visual, to bring the 2020 Pantone Color of the Year to life through a multi-sensory experience.”

Classic Blue in Fashion

PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue is a poised and self-assured blue hue elegant in its simplicity. Genderless in outlook and seasonless in endurance, this foundational anchor shade enables color mixes throughout the spectrum, as well as making a strong statement on its own. Emblematic of heritage but at the same time highly contemporary, versatile PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue takes on distinct appearances through application to different materials, finishes and textures from shimmering metallics, lustrous sheens and high-tech materials to hand crafted looks and more fragile fabrics.

Classic Blue in Beauty

In the ultimate display of personal expression, PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue makes a dramatic statement for eyes, nails and hair in a variety of finishes from glittery and glam to dusty matte.

Classic Blue in Home Décor

Offering the promise of protection PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue is a pervasive favorite for home. Creating a stable foundation from which to build, PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue injects creative confidence into interiors, transforming a space through unique color combinations and tonal statements. Easily applied across so many different materials, textures and finishes, PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue is a dependable blue that can take you in different directions expressing tradition and elegance as well as unexpected boldness.

Classic Blue in Graphic Design and Packaging

Because of PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue’s relation to the sky at dusk, something we see every day, it maintains a perception of dependability and constancy. A color we respond to viscerally as being trustworthy, PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue is an ideal shade for many applications of graphic design. This is especially true for packaging where PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue conveys the message of honesty, credibility and reliability that today’s consumers are connecting to.

Classic Blue in Food and Beverage

Blue foods and beverages including PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue like shades are rich in anthocyanins. With this relationship to wellness and self-care these blue foods help to build a solid foundation, acting as a form of protection for good health. In addition to their natural health benefits, these blue foods also bring style and sophistication to the table.

Classic Blue as a Multi-Sensory Experience

In addition to releasing the iconic Pantone color swatch for PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue, Pantone has collaborated with a number of sensory experts from the worlds of music, food, fashion, beauty and technology to envision PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue as a sound, a smell, a taste, and a feeling. Taken together, all of these sensory inputs have been designed to inspire creatives and consumers to think about color differently, to uncover new patterns and associations, and to encourage them to create new experiences that speak to people’s hearts as well as their minds.

For the first time ever, Pantone has debuted a unique multisensory approach that includes not just the sight of the Color of the Year, but also the taste, texture, scent and sound of the Color of the Year. To bring the color of Classic Blue to life, Pantone partnered with Firmenich, AudioUX, LANDR, and The Inside to provide a multi sensory experience that describes the Color of the Year.

Multisensory elements include:

The sight of the Color of the Year 2020 Pantone 19-4502 Classic Blue: Imprinted in our psyches as a restful color, Classic Blue brings a sense of peace and tranquility to the human spirit, offering refuge. A reflective blue tone, Classic Blue fosters resilience.

The sound of the Color of the Year 2020, in partnership with Audio UX: The sound of Classic Blue is nostalgic and takes us to a place that is comforting and familiar.

The texture of the Color of the Year 2020, in partnership with The Inside: The feel of the color fabric translates into a soft, velvety texture, further emphasizing the calming quality of the color, while eliciting feelings of empowerment to expand the mind and build foundation for the future.

The taste of the Color of the Year 2020, in partnership with Firmenich: The taste of the color is described as gentle and elegant, and explores the idea of maturing through ripening.

The scent of the Color of the Year 2020, also in partnership with Firmenich: the scent of the color elicits contemplation and a feeling of optimism for the future, with notes of blue water and sea salt lifted by airy sky.

Limited Edition Pantone Color of the Year 2020 Formula Guides

Pantone will also release limited-edition collections of Pantone Color of the Year 2020 Formula Guides and Fashion, Home + Interiors Color Guides as collector’s items for designers, to help them better integrate Classic Blue into their workflow and drawing the connection between the inspiration that the Color of the Year offers to the color achievability and consistency that Pantone standards ensure. Guides will feature a specialized Color of the Year cover including messaging for Classic Blue enclosed within the guide. Available at on Pantone.com, these guides are perfect gifts for designers who are already on the pulse of color trends, or for up-and-comers who want to deck out their desk with the sleekest tools.

Pantone’s best-selling guide for design inspiration, color specification, and printing accuracy – now available as a limited edition to celebrate the Pantone Color of the Year 2020. This special edition coated and uncoated set features a beautiful soft-touch cover in PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue.

About the PANTONE Color of the Year

For over 20 years, Pantone’s Color of the Year has influenced product development and purchasing decisions in multiple industries, including fashion, home furnishings, and industrial design, as well as product packaging and graphic design.

The Pantone Color of the Year selection process requires thoughtful consideration and trend analysis. To arrive at the selection each year, Pantone’s color experts at the Pantone Color Institute comb the world looking for new color influences. This can include the entertainment industry and films in production, traveling art collections and new artists, fashion, all areas of design, popular travel destinations, as well as new lifestyles, playstyles, and socio-economic conditions. Influences may also stem from new technologies, materials, textures, and effects that impact color, relevant social media platforms and even upcoming sporting events that capture worldwide attention. Past selections for Color of the Year include:

• PANTONE 16-1546 Living Coral (2019)
• PANTONE 18-3838 Ultra Violet (2018)
• PANTONE 15-0343 Greenery (2017)
• PANTONE 15-3919 Serenity and PANTONE 13-1520 Rose Quartz (2016)
• PANTONE 18-1438 Marsala (2015)
• PANTONE 18-3224 Radiant Orchid (2014)
• PANTONE 17-5641 Emerald (2013)
• PANTONE 17-1463 Tangerine Tango (2012)
• PANTONE 18-2120 Honeysuckle (2011)
• PANTONE 15-5519 Turquoise (2010)
• PANTONE 14-0848 Mimosa (2009)
• PANTONE 18-3943 Blue Iris (2008)
• PANTONE 19-1557 Chili Pepper (2007)
• PANTONE 13-1106 Sand Dollar (2006)
• PANTONE 15-5217 Blue Turquoise (2005)
• PANTONE 17-1456 Tigerlily (2004)
• PANTONE 14-4811 Aqua Sky (2003)
• PANTONE 19-1664 True Red (2002)
• PANTONE 17-2031 Fuchsia Rose (2001)
• PANTONE 15-4020 Cerulean (2000)

The color selected as our Pantone Color of the Year 2020 was taken from the PANTONE Fashion, Home + Interiors Color System, the most widely used and recognized color standards system for fashion, textile, home and interior design.

For more information on the Pantone Color of the Year for 2020, please visit www.pantone.com/color-of-the-year-2020.

About Pantone and the Pantone Color Institute

PANTONE®, a wholly owned subsidiary of X-Rite, Incorporated, is the global color authority and provider of professional color standards for the design industries. Today Pantone’s universal language of color is used by 100 million design professionals worldwide to access color trends, communicate color choices and control consistency of color across every imaginable surface, texture, material and finish.

Through the Pantone Color Institute, Pantone continues to chart future color direction and study how color influences human thought processes, emotions and physical reactions. Pantone furthers its commitment to providing professionals with a greater understanding of color and to help them utilize color more effectively. Always a source for color inspiration, Pantone also offers designer-inspired products and services for consumers. More information is available at www.pantone.com. For the latest news, trends, information and conversations, connect with Pantone on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

All images and trend information courtesy of PANTONE®.

Tags: blue, Classic Blue, Color, color codes, Color of the Year, color trends, COY, deep blue, design, fashion, fashion design, home, interior, Pantone, PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue, PANTONE 19-4052 TCX, PANTONE 19-4052 TPX, Pantone Color Institute, Pantone Color of the Year, Pantone Polyester Standards, Pantone Polyester Swatch Set, style, Top