Ultra Violet
Around this time
of year every year a magical thing happens: the Pantone Color Institute picks a
new color for the upcoming year. This choice of color will be seen throughout
the world in fashion, home décor, Christmas decorations, cosmetics, jewelry and more.
If you have
never heard of the Pantone Color Institute, they are all about color. If you
have ever seen a color wheel or color chart, chances are it was made by
Pantone.
Every color on
the Pantone chart has a number and name.
The color for
2017 was Greenery, which has been likened to a famous amphibian...
This morning the
Pantone Color Institute announced the color for the year of 2018. Drumroll
please, the Pantone color of the year is…..
Ultra Violet-Pantone 18-3838
As the Indigo
Poet of the Moon, I am excited that the Pantone Company chose a shade of purple
as its color of the year.
I did a blog
post two years ago about how much I love the color red. It is entitled, “Red I
Said”
While I do love
the color red, I have a natural affinity for the color purple. It has been my
favorite color for as long as
I can remember. For my senior ring in high school, I got a purple stone. My cell phone case, for my business phone line, is purple. As I write, I am wearing a purple fleece jacket with my library’s logo on it. Purple is my color.
I can remember. For my senior ring in high school, I got a purple stone. My cell phone case, for my business phone line, is purple. As I write, I am wearing a purple fleece jacket with my library’s logo on it. Purple is my color.
When I began my
writing journey, I remember having a conversation with a friend about what I
was feeling. I was disappointed about something, and I told my friend I was
feeling a little blue. He immediately replied, “You aren’t blue, you’re
indigo.” I was in a state confusion as to what he meant by calling me indigo.
I began to
research the concept of being indigo. The color indigo, a hue of purple, is the
color of the sky at night, just as the stars begin to shine. In regards to
people being indigo, I found that a person is indigo is they have the following
attributes:
Wisdom, loyalty, insight, spiritualism,
intuition,
perception, devotion, creativity,
and a responsibility to the truth
When I first
read the definition, I did not think of myself as being indigo in any way shape
or form. As I grew as a person, artist, and as a woman, I embraced the concept
of being indigo. It was then that I began to call myself the Indigo Poet of the
Moon. I even wrote about seeing the world through a set of Indigo Colored
Glasses.
Since then I
have fashioned my business around the color indigo, which has often been
translated into purple. The colors on this blog, while it is a representation
of outer space, are purple. My website features the color purple.
My logo for my
business features different colors of purple.
My new personal
website, which I built last month, also features the color purple…
The color purple
has a great significance in the world. Hearkening back to biblical times, purple
has been the color of royalty. The purple tint was first produced using sea
snails. As it was labor intensive to procure the dye, any cloth made of purple
was of great expense. It then follows that only the richest people at the time could
afford it. The color can be seen in royal garb, robes, even the royal crown of
England.
Purple is also
known as a color of spirituality. It brings about creativity, imagination, and
introspection. The website Empowered By Color explores this meaning of the
color purple:
“Purple or violet assists those who seek
the meaning of life and spiritual fulfillment - it expands our awareness,
connecting us to a higher consciousness. For this reason it is associated with
transformation of the soul and the philosophers of the world are often
attracted to it. In the meaning of colors, purple and violet represent the
future, the imagination and dreams, while spiritually calming the emotions.
They inspire and enhance psychic ability and spiritual enlightenment, while, at
the same time, keeping us grounded…From a color psychology perspective, purple
and violet promote harmony of the mind and the emotions, contributing to mental
balance and stability, peace of mind, a link between the spiritual and the
physical worlds, between thought and activity. Violet and purple support the
practice of meditation.”
In recent times,
the color purple has come to represent womanhood. My local women’s shelter has
purple featured in their branding. In fact, many women’s organizations feature
purple, including the National Woman’s Party, the League of Women Voters, and
Women Against Abuse.
The color purple
is quite often paired with the color red, a power color associated with
femininity. In the last year, there has been a resurgence of feminism in the
United States. Instead of having the first female President in U.S. history, we
instead have a man who has been accused of sexual assault. There was a Women’s
March in January of this year which brought out women marching for equality and
to bring about social change in every major city in the United States.
There has also
been a growth in the number of female candidates for political office.
There is also a meaning
of the color purple in the LGBT+ community, also referred to as the G.S.D.
(Gender/Sexuality Diversity) community. On the rainbow flag, the color
represents the human spirit.
"Rainbow Flag Representation" by Esperanza Habla
On the asexual flag….
…and on the demisexual flag…
….purple represents community.
It could be said then that the color purple stands for femininity,
progressiveness, community, and change.
“This shade is one of
nonconformity,” said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color
Institute. “People are looking for ways to display creativity.”
With all of this in mind, the New York Times wrote an article about the
color of the year, entitled “The Future is....Purple.”
“It ‘communicates
originality, ingenuity and visionary thinking,’ Leatrice Eiseman, executive
director of the Pantone Color Institute, said by way of explanation….‘It’s also the most complex of all colors,’ she said, ‘because
it takes two shades that are seemingly diametrically opposed — blue and red — and
brings them together to create something new.’"
The Fast Co. Design website shared this article on the color choice:
"We’re wrestling with an
administration that wants to reverse decades of progress in civil rights,
economic justice, environmentalism, and more. We’re confronting the ugly truths
about gender inequality and abuse. But just as fast as some forces are yanking
us into the past, we’re careening even more rapidly into the future thanks to
powerful innovations in biotechnology, artificial intelligence, and blockchain
technology. Purple, of all the
colors in the spectrum, embodies this situation best, as Pantone explains. ‘[Ultra
Violet] is a very provocative shade, but it’s also a thoughtful color–it sounds
like a bit of an oxymoron,’ Eisenman says. ‘This is the kind of color attached,
historically, to originality, ingenuity, and visionary thinking. These are the
elements we need to create a meaningful future. Inventiveness and imagination
is something we seek in our personal lives and business worlds. People are
looking for that ‘magic bullet,’ and this shade is the perfect shade to lead
right into it . . . It’s intriguing, fascinating, and magical.’”
I am beyond the moon excited that the Pantone Company chose a share of
purple for its Color of the Year for 2018. I see it as a color of
progressiveness, community, working together for a better future, of hope.
Get ready
for positive change. Get ready to see the world with an Ultra Violet hue.
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