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Meet Ultra Violet: Pantone's Color of the Year for 2018

Laura Busche March 31, 2021 · 2 min read
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We had been seeing purple hues pop up in virtually every major brand redesign this year. Back in 2014, Pantone had already given us fuchsia/purple dreams selecting Radiant Orchid as Color of The Year. Still, nothing could have prepared us for Ultra Violet: a galactic, deep purple shade that is about to take the world of design by storm. In words used by the Pantone team this morning, “Ultra Violet lights the way to what is yet to come.”

What Purple Represents

We’ve covered some of the emotions associated with different colors here before. Purple, in particular, is often linked to terms like soothing, exciting, and calm. In a study on fashion brand personality, purple logos were significantly associated with sophistication, including traits like “feminine”, “glamorous”, and “charming”. As a color, purple is the result of combining red and blue in different proportions. Warmer purples (like lilac) contain more red and cooler purples (think periwinkle) contain more blue. Ultra Violet, the specific shade Pantone has chosen this year, is closer to blue, features a high chroma (intensity), and a low value (dark).

Hop On The Trend

Feeling ready to use Ultra Violet in your next project? Here are a few fonts, graphics, and templates that will make it much easier:
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Laura Busche

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).

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11 Comments
  • Ultraviolet is one of my favourite colors. And especially in the watercolor textures. Thanks for sharing... And via my portfolio: https://creativemarket.com/joyologo 4 years ago
  • Oh, wow. It's one of my favorite colors. So ready to use it in my future projects. :) Thank you so much for this article! Have a nice day. 4 years ago
  • Not sure if it will really be popular as the 2017 Pantone color of the year Green wasn't a big hit. 4 years ago
  • Great - my color!!! 4 years ago
  • Pantone Green in 2017 was a huge hit in the wedding industry (and still is) in my opinion. Will have to watch how this new color will start coming in :) 4 years ago
  • Really enjoy the new year color, remember me the Bootstrap 4 years ago
  • I really liked the green one for 2017. And this one for 2018 is so beautiful as well. It will be interesting to see which industries use it the most 4 years ago
  • Great post! I have amazing spacy background for social media with Ultra Violet colors check it here https://creativemarket.com/ilonitta/2130178-Ultra-Violet-2018 4 years ago
  • One of my favorite colors! 4 years ago
  • Not my favorite, but looking forward to working out of my comfort zone! 4 years ago
  • Can one say "Pantone, Color of the Year 2018" or is that a copyright infringement? 4 years ago