The "Must Have" Colors for 2009

Pantone, one of several authorities on color, has selected “Mimosa” as the color of the year for 2009. If you look to nature for color definitions, a mimosa is a green tree. However, it is also a cocktail consisting of orange juice and wine or champagne. Pantone’s “Mimosa” is an orange-based yellow - a color that was selected to represent hope and optimism. (It’s a bit contradictory because the name invokes a form of self-indulgence that may not the best approach for 2009.)

Another group of color czars, Color Marketing Group (CMG), proclaims that purple is the “must have” color of 2009. Their prediction also includes a wide range of hues (in the following order):
1. Purples
2. Blue (it’s the new green)
3. Cooled-down, grayed-out browns and grays
4. Yellow (wild vivid yellow)
5. Mauve (it’s back)
They also included a range of exotic bright “accent” colors and white as a “business color.” Wait a minute, just when we were told that black is the new black.....?

Here’s where it gets even more confusing. The Color Association of the United States (CAUS) offers a series of color palettes, which include:
1. The Rock Crystals Palette (mineral hues)
2. The Vegetable Garden Palette (28 warm mid-tones hues)

CAUS director, Leslie Harrington commented: “In 2009, expect to see less contrast, less pastel, less saturated color. And if you don't like that, wait till next year. The theme for the color association's 2010 forecast is contrast and contradiction.”

I for one am not going to wait. I’m opting for the colors that I love and already have. More is less, less is more.

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Tell us your favorite colors!
Color Matters Global Color Survey
http://express.colormatters.com/colorsurvey/

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Post script:
See Howard Pousner’s “The next wave of Colors - Don’t be blue if yellow, purple (or mauve) are not for you”