Pantone announces selection of 2023 color of the year: vivid Viva Magenta

Just as 2021's Ultimate Gray and sunny yellow Illuminating had to move aside for 2022's Very Peri, it's now the periwinkle blue's turn to step back. In 2023, the color experts at Pantone predict, we'll all be seeing a lot more red — Viva Magenta, to be specific.

The forecasters at the company's color consultancy Pantone Color Institute have named a color of the year for more than 20 years — and say next year's "animated red" is "powerful and empowering."

Viva Magenta 18-1750 "revels in pure joy, encouraging experimentation and self-expression without restraint, an electrifying, and a boundaryless shade that is manifesting as a stand-out statement," the company announced on its website this week. 

According to Pantone, the color of the year reflects culture and lifestyle trends. 

"It is a color we see crossing all areas of design; a color that serves as an expression of a mood and an attitude on the part of the consumers, a color that will resonate around the world, a color that reflects what people are looking for, a color that can hope to answer what they feel they need," according to an interview with the institute's Vice President Laurie Pressman about the selection process, published on the company's site.

Pressman said the members of the institute who weigh in on the year's color come from a variety of industries, locations and backgrounds, and discuss color trends throughout the year.

"We discuss our color psychology and color trend research looking to connect the mood of the global zeitgeist with the corresponding color family. From there, we drill down further to identify the exact right shade," she said.

As for what Viva Magenta could signify about culture heading into 2023, the company calls the color "audacious, full of wit and inclusive of all."