Pantone Color of the Year 2021: Illuminating and Ultimate Gray

Pantone has finally announced the Color of the Year to brighten the start of 2021.

Pantone’s Colors of the Year for 2021 are a combination of two colors that symbolize strength and hope. The gray represents solid, reliable practicality, while the bright yellow conveys energy and a symbol of a brighter future ahead. These two independent colors are both excellent on their own, but together they form an even more beautiful complement, describing a brighter and more hopeful 2021 after the bleakness of 2020.

If you’d like to learn more about the 2022 Pantone Color of the Year: Pantone Color of the Year 2022: 17-3938 Very Peri

If you’d like to make boxes using Pantone colors: Box production inquiry

The Pantone color code for the gray-tone Ultimate Gray is PANTON 17-5104, and the code for the bright yellow Illuminating is PANTONE 13-0647.

If you’d like to learn more about Pantone colors: From Pantone to spot colors

Reasons for Pantone’s 2021 Color of the Year Selection

In an ongoing climate of uncertainty, people constantly seek energy, clarity, and hope to overcome difficult circumstances. Just as one pushes through deepening darkness with vitality, the first Pantone Color of the Year for 2021, 13-0647 Illuminating, is a bright, cheerful yellow that radiates sun-like energy. The second Pantone Color of the Year for 2021, Ultimate Gray 17-5104, symbolizes a firm and sustainable foundation. Like pebbles scattered along a beach, Ultimate Gray helps people feel grounded through quiet resilience and stability.

The combination of Ultimate Gray and the bright, glowing Illuminating yellow, Pantone’s 2021 Colors of the Year, symbolizes positive energy supported by unshakable courage. By pairing a practical, sturdy character with a bright and optimistic color combination, Pantone aimed to convey humanity and hope to people around the world enduring difficult times.

The RGB values for the 2021 Pantone Color of the Year Illuminating Yellow are 245, 223, 77, and the Hex code is #F5dF4D. The RGB values for the second 2021 Pantone Color, Ultimate Gray, are 147, 149, 151, and the Hex code is #939597. If you want to apply the New Year’s Pantone colors to packaging, enter the code values in Packative Editor!

Try designing packaging using the 2021 Pantone colors

If you’re curious about how to design in Packative:

What Is Pantone’s Color of the Year?

For more than 20 years, Pantone’s annual Color of the Year has had a major influence on a wide range of industries, including fashion, interior design, industrial design, packaging design, and graphic design.

If you’d like to know the 2020 Pantone Color: 2020 Pantone Color - Classic Blue

Pantone’s Color of the Year is selected by color experts and the Pantone Color Institute based on fresh color inspiration drawn from every corner of the world—performances, films, culture and the arts, travel destinations, lifestyle, social and economic sectors, and more. New technologies, materials, textures, social media, and emerging events are also taken into consideration. As a result, Pantone’s Color of the Year will have a major impact on packaging design trends over the next year.

If you’re considering packaging production, this is a must-read! A guide for packaging beginners

What Is the PANTONE COLOR INSTITUTE™?

Pantone Color Institute is a business unit within Pantone that consults on seasonal runway colors, global color trends, and the visual identity of industries. Through activities such as seasonal trend forecasting, color psychology, and color consulting, Pantone Color Institute is one of the most authoritative companies in color design worldwide.

That is why Pantone’s annual Color of the Year has a major influence across many design industries. If you are planning a business where visual design is important, we recommend keeping the Color of the Year in mind.

If packaging production is on your mind, be sure to read this! Everything you need for box production