Pantone's 2018 Color of the Year Is Here and It's...Complicated

Pantone's Color of the Year is always loaded. Annually (since 2000), the institute's team of color experts traipses the globe identifying trends and color cues before zeroing in on that one perfect hue that matches the mood du jour. 

And this morning, the institute announced that its much-anticipated color for 2018 is Ultra Violet. (Which is basically the purpliest shade of Magic Marker purple conceivable.) 

Why exactly, did they choose the shock-to-the-system hue? Because of its complicated composition—and the positive message it sends. 

Ultra Violet is "...the most complex of all colors,” Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute told The New York Times. In a not-so-subtle nod to the American political climate (and, um, Hillary's concession wardrobe), the hue is quite literally a joining of dueling reds and blues. "We wanted to pick something that brings hope and an uplifting message.

Whatever your associations with the color purple ("Ooh, royalty! Eww, Barney!), get ready to see it in abundance across home, fashion, beauty and everything in between this year.

If one thing's for certain, Prince would have loved it.

_{Above, a home office rendered in Behr's King's Court paint.} 

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