Wellness Potential Of Pantone’s 2023 Color Of The Year

Every winter, the world’s design authorities share their color choices for the upcoming year. One of the top firms in this space, Pantone, just announced that its 2023 Color of the Year is Viva Magenta (18-1750). What difference does it make? “The colors that we surround ourselves with will affect our mood and our emotions,” explains color expert, author and owner of the Color911 app Amy Wax.

Girija Kaimal, art therapist, assistant dean at Drexel University and president of the American Art Therapy Association was glad to see a bright and bold color choice from Pantone, she says. “Colors in general are a sign of well-being and joy. Think of colorful flowers and animals in nature.” She shares that Western societies tend to be more cautious with color than others around the world. “Chromophilia (love of color) is a great aim towards overall wellness instead of chromophobia (fear of color),” she notes, adding, “Color implies fearlessness in my mind and this COTY promotes that.”

Pantone’s 2023 announcement is an opportune moment to look at where and how you might want to use this vibrant shade. Here’s how the company describes Viva Magenta: “Assertive but not aggressive, it is a carmine red that does not boldly dominate but instead takes a ‘fist in a velvet glove’ approach.” Where do you want a soft punch of color?

Here’s how Wax describes it: “Viva Magenta is upbeat, creative and enthusiastic, all moods that we would love to be surrounded by to lift our spirits.” It’s classic burgundy with a spicy attitude and unrestrained energy, she adds.

How to Use

“As a bold color, Viva Magenta can be used in small doses and still spread the feeling of positivity,” Wax suggests. That could inspire an accent wall, room décor or artworks and organizers. “It can complement any neutral color palette with a splash of enthusiasm,” she points out.

New York-based interior designer Laurence Carr agrees: “Magenta is perfect for an accent color – something memorable to pop boldly against a more neutral background.”

Where to Use

A home office could be an optimum spot for the attributes the color expert describes as projecting a sense of uplifting optimism, confidence and fearless optimism. Another reason to introduce the COTY here is its ties to technology: “Viva Magenta, designed with the help of artificial intelligence, serves as an invitation into an optimistic and endless new ecosystem to be explored, called ‘the Magentaverse,’” declares Pantone. Your home office may be the site for your most innovative ideas. Design accordingly!

Another potential area for this color is a fitness room, where your goal is the unrestrained energy Wax cites. In fact, one of Pantone’s launch partners for Viva Magenta is Hydrow and its latest high tech rowing machine.

A kitchen is another possibility for a fearlessly creative chef. Red is believed to spur hunger – which is why it shows up in so many restaurants – making colors in that family great for both kitchens and dining rooms. A gathering room for socializing with friends is certainly an option. “It is a color I often turn to when I wish to convey warmth, compassion, depth, and cheer in a space such as a living room, places where much interpersonal connection occurs,” Carr comments. Viva Magenta can even stylishly clad a powder room walls in drama and provide a strong contrast to white fixtures.

Last Words

“As a bold color, Viva Magenta can be used in small doses and still spread the feeling of positivity,” Wax says. “This Color of the Year choice is appealing in that it is in the family of classic colors that we are so comfortable with, with a bit of sass.”

And who couldn’t use some sass these days? “After years of Covid, which made us cautious and isolated, these bright colors feel like an invitation to rejoin life, a celebration of all that is to come,” Kaimal declares.

This post first appeared on Forbes.com. To see the original, click here.