Chromaflo’s 2022 Color of the Year is ‘Monarch’. In this post, we’ll walk through some of the other color finalists and give some background on how we made our final decision.

Let’s start from the beginning – what is a “Color of the Year” campaign?

A “Color of the Year” campaign serves several purposes all at once. It’s a way to promote color, spot trends, and predict how to meet the demands of future consumers.

Speaking of trends – as we look to other companies’ choices for their own Color of the Year, we see pale, earthy greens that align with our 2021 color, Encouragement. Perhaps we were ahead of the curve on that prediction and look forward to seeing how Monarch emerges in future trends.

In this post, we’ll show you how we arrived at our final decision by giving you stories of the finalists and an introduction to the color science that went into deciding the 2022 Color of the Year and its associated color palette.

How We Chose the Three Color of the Year Finalists

When we set out to find our 2022 Color of the Year, we started with our Color Science team, who created suggested colors with a color palette and written stories behind their choices. Members of this department include manager Teri Kummer and color scientists Ali Nassar, April Tetlow, and Katelyn Bevilacqua. Starting here made sense, since this is the same group that has been actively participating in Color Marketing Group color workshops to forecast color trends.

We wanted to tie the color and its resulting name back to the events going on in the world today. Everyone is facing challenging, emotional times, and we wanted our nominators to take the time to use those feelings for insight on their choices.

Team members found inspiration in a variety of ways. While some took a physical approach and looked at what colors and trends could be observed in stores, others found creativity in emerging music and art. Many were influenced by the countless obstacles society has faced this year.

As a global colorant supplier, we aimed to predict color trends that adhere to various regions for paints, coatings, and even the thermoset plastics market. Rather than point out what colors are currently popular, our goal was to predict how hues and undertones would adapt and change with trends to suggest what the next new shades of colors would be.

Entries were then whittled down to the three finalists below, where color science and marketing teams voted on Chromaflo’s 2022 Color of the Year.

The 3 Finalists

Precious: Nominated by April Tetlow

• sRGB: 0, 176, 165
• Hex: 00B0A5
• Professional Contractor: 3-2205D

“Material shortages are affecting every aspect of our lives as this generation has never known.  Raw material shortages are wreaking havoc in manufacturing. Limited stock is apparent on store shelves. Variety is limited. Even ordinary – taken for granted – items (such as lawnmowers) are hard to come by. We are discovering that even the ordinary can be precious. This time of discovery it a time of enlightenment and from that we are growing in wisdom.  During these uncertain times we take comfort in home, our dwelling.”

“Going back to school shopping with my daughter affirmed my instincts that the 80’s is currently trending. Turquois, the color of Precious, is definitely an 80’s trend. To modernize the trend, I paired turquoise with yellows (golden yellow and a lighter shade) rather than the corals of the 80’s. Neutrals are continuing to move from grey to brown and keeps the palette trending forward.”

Grumpy Green: Nominated by Ali Nassar

• sRGB: 116, 188, 153
• Hex: 74BC99
• Professional COntractor: 3-1509-D

“As you walk down your produce section to pick out your weekly leafy greens, you scowl at the realization that costs have went up for the third time this year. As you exit the store with less green in your wallet and your shopping bag, inspiration hits and you decide you need a break from all this.  You get in your car you search up international flights, looking for a ray of light.  Instead of light you find that your preferred country of travel still has restrictions on it. You sigh and throw your phone on the passenger seat, ‘I guess not this year.’ You turn on your car and shift the gear out of park, and then it starts raining…”

“Day to day things are harder to come by. The world is going through inflation.  Traveling is more complicated. Weather across the country seems more violent. The feel of the world is different; it seems like it is a tad bit more grumpy than usual.”

The 2022 Color of the Year: Monarch – Nominated by Katelyn Bevilacqua

• sRGB: 246, 141, 46
• Hex: F68D2E
• Colortrend Boutique: 24-7D

“2022 is all about emerging. As the world faces challenges navigating raw material shortages, travel restrictions, workforce evolutions, and social reform movements, we are inspired to break out and connect with one another to move forward together. Research and innovation are driven by the search for alternatives and solutions as people find creative ways to grow and succeed despite countless oppositions. “

“Bold and emotional, Monarch is a red-shade orange that inspires creativity and success as we emerge into 2022, paired with the paler shade of sunstone as health continues to be a priority while navigate torrential challenges. Cooler tones calm the palette, with the low chroma violet shade serving as a subtle, tranquil reminder of spring growth and natural blue shade green offering prosperity and energy.”

The 2022 Color of the Year Winner and Accompanying Palette

Monarch won the vote for the color of the year, with the slight modification to the RGB values to produce an orange with a less yellow undertone. The palette was then created by mixing each of those related to the finalists, with additional colors added or changed.

We used a lot of warm and grounded tones to play off the bright, vibrant hues of Monarch, picking and choosing the right color from each of the finalists’ palettes to round out the boldness of our 2022 Color of the Year.

Conclusion

As equal parts science and art, the Color of the Year process is a lot of fun for us color geeks. This is “Where Art Meets Technology”. We really enjoy being allowed to stretch our creative muscles and peer into our crystal balls to predict future color trends.

We think the Monarch fully embodies the spirit and the inspiration we’ll use to move forward through 2022. We’re excited to add it to our line of colorant offerings and look forward to seeing how it will be applied. Get in touch with us to see how you can use our 2022 Color of the Year.