32 | FEBRUARY 4 • 2021 

M

ost of us have been 
happy to say “so long” to 
2020. Close to a year of 
a global pandemic has had an effect 
on almost everyone — and almost 
everything — including the world 
of design.
Pantone is best-known in the 
fashion, beauty, graphic design and 
home design industries for its color-
matching system — and the Pantone 
Color Institute has provided color 
reports and forecasts since 1962 (the 
year of Cerulean Blue). 
The recently revealed Pantone 
Color of the Year for 2021 is a direct 
reaction to the mood of 2020 and a 
hopeful look forward to 2021. And 
for the second time in its history, 
the color is actually two colors. 

“Ultimate Gray” reflects on 2020 as 
a year — while also bringing a sense 
of comfort — and “Illuminating” 
is full of hope and positivity for the 
future. 
“It is a pairing of two independent 
colors that come together to create 
an aspirational color pairing 
conjoining deeper feelings of 
thoughtfulness with the optimistic 
promise of a sunshine-filled day,
” 
according to the institute.
“The selection of two 
independent colors highlight how 
different elements come together to 
express a message of strength and 
hopefulness that is both enduring 
and uplifting, conveying the idea 
that it’s not about one color or one 
person — it’s about more than 

one. The union of an enduring 
Ultimate Gray with the vibrant 
yellow Illuminating expresses a 
message of positivity supported by 
fortitude,
” says Leatrice Eiseman, 
executive director of the Pantone 
Color Institute. “Practical and rock 
solid but at the same time warming 
and optimistic, this is a color 
combination that gives us resilience 
and hope.
” 
 Amy Miller Weinstein, owner 
of AMW Design Studio in 
Birmingham, agrees that the shades 
have an emotional impact. 
“For me, the 2021 Pantone Colors 
of the Year evoke a ’60s vibe,
” she 
says. “With the world in such 
upheaval, it feels synchronistic to 
be drawing on emotions that were 
so much a part of that era — and 
pursuing a hopefulness that in 
our differences, we can find our 
connections.
” 
 In a children’s lounge space in a 
client’s home, Weinstein anchored 
the room in tones of soft, soothing 
gray — brushed metals, cloudy 
cabinetry and ashy-finished flooring 
— but contrasts with a pop of 
lemony yellow in the form of a sink-

In Ultimate Gray and Illuminating, 
Pantone’s new dual colors of the year 
break free from a pandemic state of mind.

LYNNE KONSTANTIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Color Combo

ARTS&LIFE
AT HOME

A children’s lounge space 
designed by Amy Miller 
Weinstein pops with 
illuminating yellow.

BETH SINGER 

