Color Changes Everything

Firstly, welcome new readers! Many of y'all have come over from Church Hill People's News, and I welcome you with open arms and a filthy mouth! Secondly, yes, two posts in two days; I can tell you're shocked. No, Hell has not frozen over. You'd know if it had because I wouldn't be here, would I? Anyway, we'll not discuss how and when I'll be going into the great fiery beyond at this juncture. For now, let us proceed on to the real purpose of this post.

Previously I discussed Tangerine Tango (the Color of the Year,) as per Pantone, The Prophetic Institute of Color. Pantone doesn't just pick one color and stick with it as the sole color to use for anything new and hip (how boring!) They do designate one color as being the Color of the Year, but in addition to this, they create a color palette for each gender for all things fashion and design, per season.



The colors this year seem to be a mix of retro-feeling POP! colors and rich, comfortable neutrals. There's some overlap between the men and women, including the ever present Tangerine Tango.

Men's Palette

Women's Palette

My personal favorite is definitely the Olympian Blue, but I may well have to give the Pink Flambé a try this summer.


Take a good look at those palettes. Try to memorize those colors for the next 30 seconds, then watch this:





It's like the whole Pantone color palette threw up all over set. While it's a little trite to use nearly every God damn color on the two palettes, it's still very fashion forward and playful.


It's also a great way to indicate that Target is here, now, current, and conscious of trends. Let's consider this from an subconscious level: Think about Target's biggest competitor, Walmart. Does Walmart scream trendy to you? No. It screams in the voices of dozens of cranky children and their equally cranky parents who just want to buy stretch pants, sod, dog food, and boxed wine under one roof, at a decent price, and go the hell home. Now think of that commercial again—it's the world we know made better through trendiness and color! So hip! So now! At least that's what they're hoping you'll think.


Like I said in my previous post—Pantone's colors influence EVERYTHING, including advertising.


Oh, and that commercial? It's called "Color Changes Everything."