Pantone recently announced the 2012 Colour of the Year to be Tangerine Tango, a kind of orangey red -- and there's a lot riding on it. According to the press release, "The 2011 color of the year, PANTONE 18-2120 Honeysuckle, encouraged us to face everyday troubles with verve and vigor. Tangerine Tango, a spirited reddish orange, continues to provide the energy boost we need to recharge and move forward."
If this Euro situation doesn’t get sorted out this year I’m blaming you, Tangerine Tango.
But seriously, do they bring out the official company Ouija board, consult with psychics and interrogate tastemakers, or do they just say so, and therefore it is?
Colour forecasting seems to be a fascinating game of educated guesses and self-fulfilling prophecy. A while back, posing as a colleague of my interior-designer wife, I got to attend one such colour forecasting presentation (not by Pantone). Clad in a black turtleneck, I made sure to have an elaborate back story in case I was questioned, which to my utter disappointment, didn't happen.
In a massive, grand ballroom on the Exhibition grounds, the wine and lamb sliders flowed freely while my fellow black turtlenecks traded industry gossip. Massive side wagers were being placed on what shade would emerge victorious -- a colour forecast presentation is the Kentucky Derby for design types*.
* Not true
Eventually the presentation began, and a whole bunch of people just left, having gotten their free wine and sliders. The actual unveiling was a (very) long PowerPoint presentation outlining the justification for that year’s colour picks. Inspiration was drawn from the world of the avant-garde, modern art, runway shows and cutting-edge interior design. Some people were intently focused on the presentation, some resumed their shoptalk, some slipped into red-wine induced naps. As we left the presentation, armed with gift bags of paint company SWAG, we all agreed that they had made some very fine colour choices.
In preparing to write this post, I asked my wife if she could remember what the colour was. She thought for a second, “Hm. Yellow? I think it was yellow. Or purple. I don’t know. But remember those sliders?”
What do you think of colour forecasting? Do you follow it?
Paul Beer is a Toronto writer, actor and comedian. You can follow him on twitter @pauldanielbeer. Read his posts every Friday on Slice.ca.
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