Every year, Pantone makes a prediction of what color will be “it” for the following year. They predicted that Turquoise would be the color of 2010. This year they’re going almost directly diagonally across the color wheel with the announcement that 2011 will be the year of Honeysuckle (Pantone 18-2120).
With financial doom and gloom pervading the global psyche, Pantone is suggesting that we “Let the bold spirit of Honeysuckle infuse you, lift you and carry you through the year.” A healthy person is sometimes referred to as “in the pink”; content and happy people are described as “tickled pink”; so it’s no surprise that pink is viewed as a positive color.
Regarding the choice of Honeysuckle as the color for 2011, Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute said,
In times of stress, we need something to lift our spirits. Honeysuckle is a captivating, stimulating color that gets the adrenaline going – perfect to ward off the blues… Honeysuckle derives its positive qualities from a powerful bond to its mother color red, the most physical, viscerally alive hue in the spectrum.
If you want to use this color on your web site, the hexadecimal RGB (near) equivalent is #E56284. And, if you like pink, you might also be interested in a post I wrote earlier this year on Pink in design which discusses and illustrates how designers have used pink in logo design, print design and web design. For mixing and matching with honeysuckle–black, charcoal, navy and a range of grays all work very well with pink, as do complimentary greens.
Personally I used to despise pink, but the older I get, the more I like it and its upbeat charms, and I like this pinky-red color of the year.
Do you like this color? Will you be adding honeysuckle pink to your designs for 2011?
Jennifer FarleyJennifer Farley is a designer, illustrator and design instructor based in Ireland. She writes about design and illustration on her blog at Laughing Lion Design.
