Color can set a tone, reflect a mood, evoke a feeling.<\/p>\n
In 2026, Pantone\u2019s Color of the Year<\/a>, Cloud Dancer, \u201ca billowy white imbued with serenity,\u201d was positioned as a hue that allows \u201cthe mind to wander and creativity to breathe.\u201d While it may not have been entirely received<\/a> as such\u2014the color reminds us of a blank Google doc yet to be filled with the necessary words for a story\u2014it could be a good juxtaposition to what comes next.<\/p>\n Of late, culture seems to be eschewing the infinite scroll and boomeranging back to an appreciation for all things real<\/a> and human. Even Big Tech brands like Anthropic and, more recently, Meta<\/a>, are using marketing messages about the importance of people.<\/p>\n \u201cThe more technology becomes part of our lives, the more we revert back to the things that make us human, whether it\u2019s nature, authenticity, things that are real, and things that you can physically touch,\u201d Laurie Pressman, VP of the Pantone Color Institute, told Marketing Brew. That may be especially true \u201cat a time when we don\u2019t trust anything.\u201d<\/p>\n When it comes to color choices, that might mean we see more \u201cenergizing colors,\u201d Pressman said. \u201cBecause those are the colors that give us comfort, that give us warmth, that make us feel something. It\u2019s not that you don\u2019t feel when you see other colors, but I think you gravitate toward what you\u2019re looking for and what you\u2019re looking to engage with and what you need.\u201d<\/p>\n For nearly three decades, Pantone\u2019s Color of the Year, which debuted in 1999, has been a way for the company to \u201chighlight the relationship between color and culture,\u201d Pressman told us. (She declined to give us any other hints about what hue 2027\u2019s Color of the Year may be.)<\/p>\n Color of the Year<\/p>\n Color can be a bellwether for the global mood and how that will be reflected in the design choices of the year to come.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery year when we select the color, there\u2019s always a message that\u2019s behind that color, why we made that selection,\u201d Pressman said.<\/p>\n Get marketing news you’ll actually want to read<\/p>\n Marketing Brew informs marketing pros of the latest on brand strategy, social media, and ad tech via our weekday newsletter, virtual events, marketing conferences, and digital guides.<\/p>\n