What’s the color of the year for 2018? You get to decide

For 2018, the color of the year is Ultra Violet, In the Moment, Oceanside, Caliente, Deep Onyx, Black Magic... or Sandstone, depending on which color expert and trend prognosticator you happen to be talking to.

So, who’s right?

That depends.

For major paint brands like Sherwin-Williams, Benjamin Moore, Glidden and Valspar, the color represents their prediction for directions within the home design industry.

“We look at a combination of colors that are popular right now,” said Erika Woelfel, vice president of color and creative services at Behr, “and then we take inspiration from furniture, textiles, fashion, travel, food and popular culture.” Behr’s pick for the year is In the Moment, a tranquil, teal-ish hue. Woelfel added: “There are a lot of blues moving into [2018]… our objective is to bring them into your home with colors you may already have in place.”

Pantone, the world’s leading resource for standardized color matching, has a broader mandate, according to the experts.

“Pantone’s [color of the year] isn’t necessarily a decor color,” said Woelfel, “it’s a fashion color. You might see it in fashion, cosmetics or plastics, in textiles or electronics or new tech devices. It might be the color that gets translated into metallics, or things for the automotive market… we look at it as something that is really interesting when it comes out, but it is not necessarily meant for us to translate into high volume paint sales.”

Laurie Pressman, vice president of the Pantone Color Institute, likens the color choice to identifying a craving: “When we select a color of the year, it is symbolic of a macro trend and its feeling.”

Pantone’s color, Ultra Violet, is an evolution of the mindfulness trend they the institute has championed for the last several years. “We are going a step further,” said Pressman, “getting into that whole meditative thing, and depth of thought. I think that it is really important… who is going to get us to that next level?”

Pressman said Pantone’s choice was inspired by the effect of visionary thinkers with game-changing ideas like Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Richard Branson. “But it’s not just about them,” Pressman said. “It’s about what can we do in our own life?

“We’re living in a time when originality is key, creative expression is key. It’s a time that requires inventiveness and imagination. [Ultra Violet] symbolizes experimentation and nonconformity, and I think today these are the qualities that are going to point us to the future and help push us forward.”

So, bring on the purple. Or blue, red, ivory or charcoal, as the case may be.

“Explore, experiment, have fun and play,” said Pressman. “Don’t be afraid. Color is life, and you have one life, live it.”