Here it is: Pantone’s Color of the Year is Radiant Orchid, hex #af71af. 2013’s Color of the Year is Emerald, and we’ve seen plenty of emerald websites, for everything from liquor to cars to cosmetics to media sites. Will we be seeing orchid on websites next year?
Right now, purple sites around the web tend to be deep violet, not orchid. They tend to be infrequent, too. One of our clients used to have a purple website, and complained that customers found the color pretentious and showy — not the effect most of us would want.
Purple also tends to be perceived as feminine, just as pink is. When you find a purple website, it’s likely to be representing a hair salon, a gynecologist’s office, or a beauty product.
All that could change, simply because Pantone’s Color of the Year has a lot of power. Designers of clothing and home goods are sure to use it, car makers often do a concept car with it, and half the weddings we attend will feature it. We begin to see it everywhere we go, and pretty soon it begins to feel normal.
Nonetheless, I haven’t been able to find any websites using this particular shade. Do you know of one? Mention it in the comments!
You can see a video discussing the way the color of the year is chosen at Bloomberg.
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