Introducing Ultimate Gray and Illuminating: Pantone's Colors of the Year for 2021 By Laura Busche Laura Busche on Dec 11, 2020 in Design Trends Tweet This Share This There is strength in optimism. Or at least that's Pantone's proposal for 2021: a color story that combines vitality and fortitude. The resilience we'll need to overcome 2020's challenges and the vivacious energy that will inspire us to do it. In selecting Ultimate Gray and Illuminating (Yellow) as their colors of the year for 2021, Pantone hopes to convey a mix of temperance and warmth. Save In the last few years, we've gotten used to seeing a single hue as Pantone's Color of the Year. Perhaps as evidence of our conflicting emotions, this year's color pair invites us to embrace the value of our differences. Creatives' reactions to this choice are divided, to say the least. We're used to adding white to create tints, gray to create tones, and black to create shades. Many use gray as a tool to precisely reduce chroma, or neutralize colorfulness; so seeing it as one of 2021's most influential color picks creates mixed feelings. However, regardless of how we feel about Ultimate Gray, Illuminating, and combining them, this selection is bound to impact the design industry going forward. Here's everything you need to know about Pantone's Colors of the Year for 2021. Color Values Head over to Pantone's Color of the Year page to grab RGB and HEX values to reproduce Ultimate Gray and Illuminating in different mediums. While they don't list CMYK values, we're including a close approximation in the codes below. They also offer an .ASE file for use in Adobe applications and a complementary set of palettes to give you a head start. Ultimate Gray Color Values Pantone: 17-5104 TCX (Cotton), Cool Gray 7 C (Solid Coated Ink) RGB: 151, 153, 155 HEX/HTML: #97999B CMYK (approximation): 44, 35, 34, 1 Illuminating Color Values Pantone: 13-0647 TCX (Cotton), 106 C (Solid Coated Ink) RGB: 245, 223, 77 HEX/HTML: #F5DF4D CMYK (approximation): 6, 7, 82, 0 Looking for a refresher on the various color codes, what they mean, and their applications? Make sure to check out this article where we explore the differences and technical details you need to know. Start Designing With Ultimate Gray and Illuminating Here's a collection of stunning Creative Market products that are already applying Pantone's colors or slight variations. Experimenting with Pantone's Color of the Year 2021 is much easier when you start with a pre-designed asset like these: Yellow Gray Floral Vector Patterns by Avenie Digital in Graphics Save Spring Clip art, logo, cards & tags by lokko studio in Graphics Save 60 geometric shapes, 30 posters by softulka in Add-Ons Save Neon - OTF colour font by ink drop in Fonts Save Tivilo Instagram Stories by Space Between in Templates Save Bright yellow desktop featuring desk, desktop, and white by Lum3n in Photos Save Interior design icons set by Venomous Vector in Graphics Save Abstract universal trend halftone by studioworkstock in Graphics Save 57. Yellow Preset by Advina Store in Add-Ons Save Yellow - 18 Instagram Templates by Annemiek van Luinen in Templates Save Yellow Tulips and Letter Board Quote by this eucalyptus life in Photos Save spring yellow forsythia flowers on c by samael334 in Photos Save Products Seen In This Post: Mesa - Moodboard Scene Creator by Sparrow & Snow in Templates Download your free coloring book Get your book Get your book Stop stressing, start coloring. Designer life got you down? We designed this coloring book to help you laugh, relax, and celebrate the things that make our craft unique.
Laura Busche Following Follow laurabusche.com Laura's Shop → Brand strategist. Creating design tools to empower creative entrepreneurs. Author of the Lean Branding book. MA in Design Management from the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). Behind the Font: Quirk, a Whimsical Display Font by The Routine Creative • Jan 29, 2021 2 Comments Graphic Design Trends to Look Out for in 2021 • Dec 18, 2020 8 Comments All Posts by Laura →
Polina Yanchuk What a great colors! I will definitely use yellow in my next project. Just fell in love with this color 2 months ago