Purple (erm...ultra violet) is the Pantone colour of the year

Pantone's 2018 Colour of the Year is ultra violet, which it describes as “provocative and thoughtful,” noting it “communicates originality, ingenuity, and visionary thinking that points us towards the future."

The annual unveiling of the COY is part-promotion, part conversation-starter. The formal name of the colour on the chip is 18-3838-Ultra-Violet .

”Ultra Violet is “multi-faceted,” says Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute and author of numerous color books, including most recently The Complete Color Harmony, Pantone Edition. “It’s a little complicated, which we feel is one of [the color’s] appeals. It’s not easy, not chili pepper red and all hot and dancy.” It’s this complexity that Eiseman believes will attract designers to the color: “Designers invariably get purples,” she says. “You talk to people on the street, though, and they’re more skeptical. That’s why we think designers will like it: you do have to have a conversation about” Ultra Violet and its uses.