#6: "Color of the Year"
At the end of 2025, Pantone announced that their 2026 Color of the Year is “Cloud Dancer” (PANTONE 11-4201). The company described it as “a lofty white that serves as a symbol of calming influence in a society rediscovering the value of quiet reflection.” From this alone, we should have known how the year was going to unfold. Well, depending on how you look at it—one could say, similarly to my argument on Black, that Pantone chose a color that is often seen as colorless—or perhaps, the reflection of every color. This reflects an entrenched societal understanding of “white(ness)”. Today, white has become the returning wave; supremacists, furniture, nationalism, toes, bigotry, bed sheets, “history”—HA! “History,” that which we understand through imperialism and colonialism. As Laurie Pressman, vice president of the Pantone Color Institute, asserted that the chosen color “reflects what people are looking for.” Who are you referring to? Because it’s certainly n...
