Has Pantone lost the plot?

The first week of December always has the design world buzzing because that is when the leading company in color matching : Pantone reveal the color for the upcoming year. Last year we were all subjected to the Mocha Mousse snore fest. This year we all hoped we would get a bolder color, especially with the HUGE revival of the Art Deco and Art Nouveau trends and the return of maximalism. Oh boy were we wrong! When I first saw the color of the year they picked for 2026 my reaction was : "Has Pantone lost the plot?" and it turns out I am not the only one. Pantone, the leading expert on colors has picked a boring off white as its 2026 color of the year. Except that they call it "Cloud Dancer" to appear fancy and intellectual. We aren't fooled though, it's WHITE. It's lazy, boring and quite frankly disturbing on so many levels.

Like many creatives in the industry I think their decision was extremely tone deaf in the current political climate in the US and the rise of extreme right in several regions of the globe. Worse is what they associate this white with In their words, here is what Cloud Dancer represents :

“a billowy, balanced white imbued with a feeling of serenity.”

In other statements I read by the guys at Pantone it also signifies a clean slate, a breath of fresh air, and tranquility in a noisy world. The picture they chose to represent it which you can view on their website portrays a person wearing white and having their face turned away from us, suggesting that this color is clearly not about individuality but conformity. As I said, pretty tone deaf in the current political climate prevailing in the US where minorities are feeling even less safe under the current regime. But if racial discrimination wasn't enough, the erasure of colors signify the erasure of individuality and cultures. Between Mocha Mousse and Cloud Dancer I feel like we are looking at a post apocalyptic future where we all live in gray bunkers and dress in boring neutrals because the goal is survival, not frivolity. It also gives massive rise of fascism vibes, where having an individual voice is a threat to the system. Everyone must blend in, compliant or silenced. Neutral are also a strong indicator of recession periods and the more we move ahead, the clearer it is we are heading toward a major recession. Here is what I said in last year's blog post about Mocha Mousse :

I watched a reel pointing to that trend towards neutral everything that points out that colors evoke emotions and neutrals sedate people into a world of no emotion. This is very dangerous, having no emotion, no distinct personality is going against diversity.

I stand by that statement, possibly even more fiercely and what I find disturbing is that I don't think Pantone chosing this boring white is an accident. The very fact they associate white with serenity, tranquility and a new beginning implies that the idea that white represent purity is still very much alive. I think they knew what they were doing and as a creative I think it is time to fight back : with colors, because the moment a kid's toy company signs a deal to have kids play with "Cloud Dreamer" modeling clay we have a big problem on our hands!

Pantone isn't the only Color system company out there!

I learned today that Pantone isn't the only big name in the color industry, and Coloro, in partnership with WGSN a trend forecasting company has come up with what most of us creative expected with a color called "transformative teal". What's more, WGSN has a really good track reccord when it comes to accurately forecast colors and design trends while Pantone quite frankly missed the plot quite frequently. I think the only time Pantone was right on the money was in 2016 with Rose Quartz. Most other colors, including one of my favourite: Viva Magenta didn't get the traction it was predicted to have. But here is what is interesting with WGSN and this beautiful teal they chose : It's exactly what a number of designer, myself included predicted would happen and apparently they called it 2 years ago.

The designers and creatives who weren't on team teal this year are all unanimously in favour of Phtalo Green or an other deep green. Why? Because we are all seeing it gain traction right now. And so has WGSN who is forecasting it as being a key color of Autumn/Winter 27-28.

With the transformative teal of 2026 they also came up with another bunch of key colors that work with it, and are ALL colors that I have seen trending in the past few months already. Remember my prediction of teal/mint and orange becoming a thing? While I was slightly off mark on the orange, I wasn't completely off base either since they predicted a amber tone to go with it. Since Pantone insists on being tone deaf and in the business on offering conformity maybe less stock should be placed in what they want to push on the design world. There are clearly more accurate forecasts out there, and if enough of us refuse to bow to the sad beige existence, maybe humanity and diversity stands a chance? What's clear with this Cloud Dancer choice, it's that Pantone is heavily criticised and their political stance is severly questioned, rightfully so.