Living Coral
A pit-stop tour through Pantone’s official color of 2019 as it appears throughout the work of Magnum photographers
At the end of 2018, the PANTONE Color Institute announced that the color of 2019 was “Living Coral”. “Color is an equalizing lens through which we experience our natural digital realities and this is particularly true for Living Coral. With consumers craving human interaction and social connection, the humanizing and heartening qualities displayed by the convivial PANTONE Living Coral hit a responsive chord,” said Leatrice Eisman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute in a statement published with the announcement.
The organization, which supplies colors and trend forecasting insights to designers around the world, claims that the hue labelled as PANTONE 16-1546 Living Coral is “Vibrant, yet mellow” and “embraces us with warmth and nourishment to provide comfort and buoyancy in in our continually shifting environment.”
In an article titled “The Business of Being Pantone: Turning Color Into Money”, law, business and culture blog, The Fashion Law, emphasised the significance of the announcement, particularly within the fashion business. “The selection stands to impact everything from the colors of the garments that go down the runway any given season to the hues that florists bank on for arrangements – in theory.”
"Color is an equalizing lens through which we experience our natural digital realities and this is particularly true for Living Coral."
- Leatrice Eiseman
It also outlined how the announcement provided an opportunity, not just for PANTONE, but for brands to sell their own products or fashion media the New York Time’s Vanessa Friedman’s comments that “Pretty much just minutes after the announcement is made, my inbox is inundated with emails from brands and retailers promoting products available in the Color of the Year.”
As predicted, in the days following the announcement, articles published by fashion and lifestyle media included: Vogue, “9 Living Coral Pieces To Add Pantone’s Colour Of 2019 Into Your Home” and “Living Coral Is the Pantone Color of the Year—Here’s How to Wear It”; Refinery29, “20 Ways To Wear Living Coral” and Elle, “10 Eco-Friendly Beauty Products Celebrating 2019’s Pantone Colour Of The Year.”
Creating a visual journey through the hue, we explore the work of Magnum photographers whose photographs have captured versions of Living Coral, from colored disks in New York by Burt Glinn to enchanting sunset by Gueorgui Pinkhassov, and unusual architecture in Albania by Martin Parr.
