Happy New Year Friends!
I’m kicking this year off by sharing the Pantone Color of the Year for 2024: Peach Fuzz. I’m in love with it. Here’s the official swatch:
Last year’s color was Viva Magenta and I tried to embrace it but in the end, red is just not my color, HOWEVER, Peach fuzz would go nicely with Viva Magenta, like peach and raspberry sherbet! …hmmmmmm
Sidebar of how I’m kinda famous
I used to work for Leatrice Eiseman, the Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute, as the assistant to her assistant during the summers. You see, my dad knew her as she featured many of his photos in the books she authored on color.
I got to help put together color/mood boards, help make copies for her in-person classes, get the coffee ready, make the flower arrangements, help set up and clean up, and a myriad of other fun things that I can’t remember.
I learned so much working for her!
She often flew to Europe for various important things and I secretly hoped I’d get to go as the assistant to her assistant (like in The Devil Wears Prada) but no cigar.
Check out Leatrice’s website HERE.
Let me know if you want my autograph!
Okay, enough about me…..
Here’s a quote from Leatrice about the color of 2024
What is Peach Fuzz? It is a compassionate and nurturing soft peach shade conveying a heartfelt kindness, a velvety gentle peach whose all-embracing spirit enriches mind, body, and soul…
In the words of my close cohort and friend, Laurie Pressman, VP of the Pantone Color Institute: “With this year’s Pantone Color of the Year 2024, we see an increased focus on community and people across the world, reframing how they want to live and evaluating what is important—that being the comfort of being close to those we love. The color is one whose warm and welcoming embrace conveys a message of compassion and whose cozy sensibility brings people together and enriches the soul.”
Enjoy this year’s color, and may it bring you a quiet moment for yourself as well as peace and togetherness for you and yours.
-Leatrice Eiseman
Please click HERE to head to Pantone’s website to learn more about Peach Fuzz and how it came to be.
Now, did you notice I bolded the word ’embrace’ in the quote above? I did so because that happens to be my WOTY (Word of the Year) for 2024. I was delighted that this year’s color goes beautifully with my word! (more to come about my WOTY soon)
Why is this important you might ask?
Many of the companies you know and love will be using this color this year. Look for it in fashion, interiors, packaging, etc. If you create surface pattern designs or products, this info is important! I will definitely be exploring how to include this color in my art.
Here’s a little history from the VP of the Pantone Institute:
Since we introduced PANTONE 15-4020 Cerulean Blue as the first Pantone Color of the Year in 1999, we have seen this program influence product development and purchasing decisions in nearly every industry and country around the world. Growing in popularity each year, its impact is felt across fashion, color cosmetics, home furnishings, automotive and industrial design, as well as product, packaging, multimedia design, and commercial interiors. We are grateful to have provided an avenue where designers and color enthusiasts all over the world feel empowered to tell their own stories through the language of color and showcase their creativity within their communities. We look forward to continuing this for many more years to come.
-Laurie Pressman
A note about the featured image at the top of this post
I used Peach Fuzz as the background color and then used Canva to add some other graphic design elements. The funky square border is a close match to Viva Magenta (last year’s color) and the florals show how well Peach Fuzz goes with MANY other colors.
What do YOU think? Will you explore this color more in your own art? Regardless, be on the lookout for it everywhere!
Kimberly Snider, Virtuoso, Signing off