The Color Report
Every year, companies like Sherwin-Williams, Behr, PPG, and Pantone release their predictions for the shades they say will define the next 12 months. For most, it’s a year-around process, with team members gathering pictures and inspiration from international scouting trips, their daily lives, magazines, and more. After weeks of deliberation, a theme emerges. “It’s not just the interior environment that we’re looking at,” Hannah Yeo, Color and Design Expert at Benjamin Moore tells us, “We’re looking at all things—in fashion, in other industries, in culture. What’s the biggest movie that’s coming out? What’s happening in the political world, not that we want to get political, but those factors come into play in terms of how we live with color.”
“It’s not just the interior environment that we’re looking at.”
Hannah Yeo, Color and Design Expert at Benjamin Moore
The colors of the year (COTY) influence fashion, beauty, and marketing campaigns and often speak to the year’s overall cultural mood—Benjamin’ Moore’s 2018 COTY was Caliente, a strong, passionate red to match the national mood, but this year’s Metropolitan is more subdued, like a call for calm. “We all had stories about how we just wanted to be relaxed,” says Yeo. “We’re done with all the colors and outbursts and all the chaotic noises.” Here are the colors of the year from both 2018 and 2019 according to the top paint manufacturers and color partners.
Benjamin Moore Caliente
AF-290
Benjamin Moore Metropolitan
AF-690
-
-
Sherwin Williams Oceanside
SW 6496
Sherwin Williams Cavern Clay
SW 7701
A sultry, warm red with brown undertones. In 2018, the color team at Benjamin Moore saw red in The Handmaid’s Tale, the Women’s March, a new TWA lounge, and art installations.
A big departure from the saturated red of 2018, Metropolitan is a direct result of an overall need for calm. “Soft power” was a key word in brainstorming sessions, and the color is inspired by the building stones of Europe.
Described as a “both accessible and elusive,” last year’s COTY was considered a universally attractive color that was both familiar and mysterious.
Bring the warmth of the American Southwest into your home. “Casual and refined,” Cavern Clay evokes the eternal mood of the desert while remaining modern.
The short and sweet guide to the incoming and outgoing color trends
2018
2019
A blend of black and navy and a bold choice for 2018. PPG’s site suggests the color “creates the silence we crave in an information-heavy world...while offering possibility and a deep hopefulness.”
Upon its release, Pantone wrote, “We are living in a time that requires inventiveness and imagination” and that it would “take awareness and potential to a higher level.”
Described as “vibrant, yet mellow” and representative of consumers “craving human interaction and social connection.”
A deep, dark green meant to evoke nature and promote healing and calm. According to Dee Schlotter, senior coloring marketing manager, “the restorative power of nature is important in society now more than ever.”
-
-
PPG
Black Flame
1043-7
PPG
Night Watch
1145-7
Pantone
Ultra Violet
18-3838
Pantone
Living Coral
16-1546
Behr’s first ever COTY is subdued, modern, and natural. VP of color and creative services Erika Woelfel say it speaks to “a desire to disconnect and be present.”
“Honest and approachable” Blueprint references architectural blueprints and acts as a “foundation for consumers to make their unique vision a reality.”
-
Behr
In the Moment
T18-15
Behr
Blueprint
S470-5
Every year, companies like Sherwin-Williams, Behr, PPG, and Pantone release their predictions for the shades they say will define the next 12 months. For most, it’s a year-around process, with team members gathering pictures and inspiration from international scouting trips, their daily lives, magazines, and more. After weeks of deliberation, a theme emerges. “It’s not just the interior environment that we’re looking at,” Hannah Yeo, Color and Design Expert at Benjamin Moore tells us, “We’re looking at all things—in fashion, in other industries, in culture. What’s the biggest movie that’s coming out? What’s happening in the political world, not that we want to get political, but those factors come into play in terms of how we live with color.”
A sultry, warm red with brown undertones. In 2018, the color team at Benjamin Moore saw red in The Handmaid’s Tale, the Women’s March, a new TWA lounge, and art installations.
Described as a “both accessible and elusive,” last year’s COTY was considered a universally attractive color that was both familiar and mysterious.
Bring the warmth of the American Southwest into your home. “Casual and refined,” Cavern Clay evokes the eternal mood of the desert while remaining modern.
A big departure from the saturated red of 2018, Metropolitan is a direct result of an overall need for calm. “Soft power” was a key word in brainstorming sessions, and the color is inspired by the building stones of Europe.
The colors of the year (COTY) influence fashion, beauty, and marketing campaigns and often speak to the year’s overall cultural mood—Benjamin’ Moore’s 2018 COTY was Caliente, a strong, passionate red to match the national mood, but this year’s Metropolitan is more subdued, like a call for calm. “We all had stories about how we just wanted to be relaxed,” says Yeo. “We’re done with all the colors and outbursts and all the chaotic noises.” Here are the colors of the year from both 2018 and 2019 according to the top paint manufacturers and color partners.
Hannah Yeo, Color and Design Expert at Benjamin Moore
“It’s not just the interior environment that we’re looking at,”
-
-
Benjamin Moore Caliente
- AF-290
Benjamin Moore Metropolitan
- AF-690
Sherwin Williams Oceanside
- SW 6496
Sherwin Williams Cavern Clay
- SW 7701
A blend of black and navy and a bold choice for 2018. PPG’s site suggests the color “creates the silence we crave in an information-heavy world...while offering possibility and a deep hopefulness.”
Upon its release, Pantone wrote, “We are living in a time that requires inventiveness and imagination” and that it would “take awareness and potential to a higher level.”
Described as “vibrant, yet mellow” and representative of consumers “craving human interaction and social connection.”
A deep, dark green meant to evoke nature and promote healing and calm. According to Dee Schlotter, senior coloring marketing manager, “the restorative power of nature is important in society now more than ever.”
-
-
PPG
Black Flame
- PPG1043 -7
PPG
Night Watch
- PPG1145-7
Pantone
Ultra Violet
- 18-3838
Pantone
Living Coral
- 16-1546
Behr’s first ever COTY is subdued, modern, and natural. VP of color and creative services Erika Woelfel say it speaks to “a desire to disconnect and be present.”
“Honest and approachable” Blueprint references architectural blueprints and acts as a “foundation for consumers to make their unique vision a reality.”
-
Behr
In the Moment
- T18-15
Behr
Blueprint
- S470-5
Words by Alyssa Mercante
Design by Peter Carlson
2018
2019
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