Pantone’s Leatrice Eiseman on the Ever-Evolving Valentine’s Day Color Palette
Posted in: Visual Communication
Valentine’s Day wasn’t always about the pearly pinks and rosy reds. Well, one of the two has shown up every decade almost since the culmination of “Single Awareness Day,” but there have been quite a few unexpected players in the Hallmark holiday. For instance, in the 1890s, you’d likely see more gifts and cutesy greetings in neutral browns and goldenrod than you would royal blue or grey (which make an appearance in the 1950s).
The Valentine’s Day palette of the 1890s.Color swatches via Brandisty
Valentine’s Day colors from the 1950’s
We caught up with Leatrice Eiseman, author and the Executive Director at the Pantone Color Institute to tell us a bit more about the changing colors of Valentine’s Day and her own personal palette for the holiday (whom we chatted with last year at the 2013 International Home + Housewares Show). See what she had to say:
Core77: If you had to define your own Valentine’s Day color palette, how would you describe it and which colors would you choose?
In my book Color Messages and Meanings, I illustrate how to use color combinations specifically for packaging, print and web design to create a mood. Falling under Provocative are a variety of different combinations all of which include “come-hither” colors that cajole the user into what psychologists would refer to as a “high arousal mode.” Advancing forward in the line of vision, a range of colors that prove to stimulate appetites of all kinds in energetic red based shades of cherry, tangerine, cranberry, raspberry, sparkling grape and sno-cone purple. This fresh and modern approach to Valentine’s Day is fun-loving, titillating, flavorful and a little bit flirty—the perfect recipe for a romantic day.
My palette might change ever so slightly if I were going to create this same radiant mood within a home environment. Here I may look to the shades in our PANTONE fashion, home & interiors palette called Hot Pink, Pink Flambé, Lipstick Red, Sunset Purple and Orchid Bloom. A wonderful compendium of red, pinks and purple tones that speak of heat, intensity and passion.
From L to R: Hot Pink, Orchid Bloom, Pink Flambé, Sunset Purple and Lipstick Red
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