Green. Oh, how i love the color. If you know me, you know that’s MY color. My house is a shade of sage green. My former – but favorite – car was a shade called Oasis Green Pearl. My company logo is a beautiful green hue, Pantone 369 to be exact. As I write this, I’m even wearing green pants.
So, yes, when Pantone announced the color of the year, Greenery, I pretty much squealed with glee. Pantone is an international color standardization organization that also predicts and promotes color trends. This year, they saw many fashion influences that included this vibrant shade of natural, grassy green, so the powers that be chose Greenery as the color of the year for 2017.
Greenery is, in my opinion, leaf green. Sort of yellow, but mostly green. The color of spring buds and certain winter evergreens. It’s the color of the stem of an orchid plant and a granny smith apple.
With the announcement of Pantone’s color of the year, there’s an expectation of trends that are coming. In Pantone’s press release, they use adjectives like fresh, revitalizing, refreshing and even zesty! That must mean we’re looking forward to a new energy in the coming year, an appreciation of nature, and the promise of new beginnings.
Isn’t that just what we need?
Some years, when the color has been announced, I’ve been bitterly disappointed. Last year, Pantone selected a blend of two different shades, and I couldn’t have been more disenchanted. The colors were Serenity (baby blue/ periwinkle) and Rose Quartz (baby pink). When a disappointing color comes along, and you start seeing it genuinely come up in your business, you have to at least acknowledge that the colors must have appealed to the wider population.
So, if you don’t like Greenery, don’t be surprised when you see it in more places than you expected! Over the last several years, I’ve been pleased to see how those knowledgeable trendsetters at Pantone who choose the color of the year really do have their eye on the ball for what is coming. When Emerald Green was announced in 2013 (when I first started writing about the color of the year), I was ecstatic since I deeply love any shade of green. And in due course, we’ve seen Emerald Green bridesmaid dresses and even an “Emerald City” theme party. But even 2012’s Tangerine Tango (a tad darker than OSHA orange) turned out to be surprisingly popular. It sure did pair well with the mason jars and burlap that were popular at the time, and paired with bright pink for a really vibrant color scheme.
With this year’s Greenery selection, I actually feel like one of those trendsetters. Several of my graphic design friends even texted me on the day of the color announcement and said, “It’s Season Events green!” We’ve had the color for our logo for nearly 10 years, and the selected shade of Greenery is extremely similar, really only five shades different. Dating back even further, while working for a former employer, my coworker and I shared an office and had one accent wall painted a shade of green very close to Greenery. My bosses pretty much hated that wall, which made me love the color even more!
In a world of concern, confusion, change and wariness, Greenery is a great contrast. Green means go. It has meant go from the time when railroads ruled the world of transportation, and green was the natural contrast to red, which obviously meant stop. So, if green means go, what do you plan on doing in 2017? What do you need to “go” and do?
In 2016, we lost far too many actors and musicians, so in 2017 we need togo and cultivate the young generation of talent. If 2016 brought an election whose result you didn’t like, then go out and show interest in the candidates and causes that will need your extra support in the coming years. If 2016 saw you in a job you hate or in a hurtful relationship, GO. Go somewhere else and try something new. Taking risks is scary – trust me, I know! But maybe a fresh coat of green paint or a new pair of green pants will give you just the boost of confidence you need. Happy New Year. Make it a great one (or a green one)!
Holly Lynch is the owner of The Season Events, a full service catering, event planning and design company located at 300 Glenn Milner Blvd. in Rome.
*The views expressed in this column are those of writer, and do not represent the opinions of V3 Magazine.
