color of the year. this year. two thousand eight. as chosen by pantone.
i used to think pantone was a pretty cool for standardizing color processes. not that they do it for free, but having a standard to reference helps out tremendously. this misstep, this "color of the year" doesn't help anyone. this is an arrogant and assuming declaration, and should not be mistaken for a service, free or otherwise.
all i can think is, seriously? the fashion world is absurdly idiosyncratic and and seems to be rather unforgiving of the same quality in other industries. perhaps that's what makes it so inaccessible. i'm not in the loop enough to know if pantone is a big deal in the fashion world, at least as color applies to actual goods...but i don't much care. i don't need anyone to tell me what looks good, not in such absolute terms anyway. i'm pretty sure my irritation will fuel no functionally productive reaction, so i'll do what i can to put it behind me, but pantone just got put on my proverbial naughty list . are colors really that different now that it's 2008? and what's next, an HSV palette to further reign in and dictate what is and isn't cool this year? fuck you color-fascists.
cathy horyn's thoughts
