Here’s how to save yourself money but still be up with the latest color hype from Pantone.
2018’s color of the year is ‘Ultra Violet’ and we’ll show you how to get that exact color in your Office documents.
Source: Pantone
Color of the year
We’re meant to take this shameless self-promotion seriously because it comes from the ‘Pantone Color Institute’ (‘gimme strength’).
Here’s some of the purple prose that came with the announcement. It makes Microsoft’s most extreme hype seem positively level headed and sane. Ultra-Violet isn’t just a color, it:
“communicates originality, ingenuity, and visionary thinking”
“Complex and contemplative … suggests the mysteries of the cosmos”
“symbolic of counterculture, unconventionality, and artistic brilliance”
“symbolizes experimentation and non-conformity”
“mystical or spiritual quality … often associated with mindfulness practices”
‘takes our awareness and potential to a higher level”
and perhaps most ridiculous of all …
“a reflection of what’s needed in our world today.”
Pantone even drags the late musician Prince into their hype. Using the ‘Purple One’ is perhaps justified, but adding David Bowie and Jimi Hendrix into their promotion would be considered heresy in some circles. Would they dare making those associations with someone still alive?
There’s a whole genre of color description language that’s mostly used overwhelm and impress. Even so, the Pantone press release is seriously OTT. More relevant and less BS would have been examples of their chosen color in action with contrasting and complementary colors.
Using Pantone’s Ultra-Violet in Office
Here are the RGB, Hex and CMYK values for Ultra Violet.
Ultra Violet
Pantone©: 18-3838
RGB: 100,83,148 Hex/HTML: 645394 CMYK: 72, 77, 11, 1
Just like any other color, go to the Office color picker, select the RGB or other color model then enter the values. Add the color to any Office font, shape, image, pen or background.
Past Colors of the Year
With tongue firmly planted in cheek we’ve looked at past Pantone promotions and how to drop them into Office documents for 2017 and 2016
Or our explanation of screen vs printed colors, including Pantone
