The Propaganda of Pantone ⇥ lokidesign.net

Kevin Lo (via Allen Tan):

In the case of colour, Pantone Inc. holds incredible influence with their increasingly marketed and mediatised Colour of the Year campaigns. Purportedly determined through a prescient reading of the cultural zeitgeist (by a select cabal of colour specialists), it is important to understand that the company, and the industry it serves, have their own specific interests and agendas that drive these selections. Pantone’s choice of “Rose Quartz” and “Serenity” as the 2016 Colour of the Year is the most insidious move by this colour-industrial-complex since “Blue Iris” in 2008. As with “Blue Iris”, Pantone has once again mined the subcultural landscape and used their monopoly within the creative industries to propagate their colour properties to the world.

At just a few thousand words, I’m not sure this qualifies as an “epic” article, but it certainly has the depth of research to have suggested that quality to me. Do yourself a favour and really dig into this one.