PANTONE: The 20th Century in Color

April 20, 2022

This book caught my eye immediately: I love history

As a kid (and maybe an adult too), my favorite part of going to the local hardware store was to grab a few paint swatch samples. With this pertinent piece of information, you can probably understand why I immediately bought a copy of ‘PANTONE: The 20th Century in Color’ when I saw it on the shelf of a local bookstore. PANTONE is regarded by many as the industry standard for color matching and as a result has become very well known in the design world. One of the trends I’ve read about across design industries (interior, digital, etc) is that we are seeing less and less color in our daily lives; this is not a trend I’m fond of. I decided to read this book for fun, to learn a bit of history and to get some inspiration for projects/social media.

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This is going to be a very visual post!

Color is important; what color can represent can be even more so. In order to better understand where we are and where we're going in terms of visual design trends, I decided to deep dive into the past to understand how we got where we are now. Rather than talking too much about things I’ve read in this book, I’d rather show you...

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1900s

Edwardian Affairs, The Arts and Crafts Movement, Jewel Tones, The Charm of Iridescence, Firsts for Women, Poiret Revolution, & The Fauves

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1910s

Theatrics, Parrish Blues, Wiener Werkstatte, Youthful Pastimes, Cubism, World War I/The Great War, Coming Home

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1920s

Art Deco, Tutmania!, Cocktails and Laughter, Destinations, The Leyendecker Man, Bauhaus, Modern Pleasures, A Rose is a Rose

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1930s

Deco Architecture, Illusions, Fantastic Plastic, Diversions, Parks and Recreation, Roseville, The Wizard of Oz!, The World of Tomorrow

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1940s

Fantasia, Edward Hopper, World War II, Carefree and Casual, The American Dream, Hit Parade, Film Noir, La Mode

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1950s

Happy at Home, Teen Angels, Mid-Century Modernists, Movie Goddesses, Cosmetic Superstars, Coast-to-Coast Woolens, Fantasyland, Abstract Expressionists

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1960s

Passage to India, A Difference Space, Kensington and Carnaby, Black is Beautiful, Psychedelia, Sesame Street, Warhol, PANTONE!

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1970s

Colors and Coordinates, Avocado and Harvest Gold, Feathers and Leathers, Provence, Land Art, The Day the World Turned Day-Glo, Night Life, Hotel California

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1980s

Memphis, Michael, and Philippe, To the Manor Born, Urban Cowboys, Signs and Symbols, Miami Vice, Majorelle and Morocco, Santa Fe, Personal Colors, Japonais

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1990s

Grunge and Graffiti, It’s a Good Thing, The Nature of Zen, Out of Africa, Latin Flavors, Chic over Geek, Anime, Conspicuous Consumption, Future Forecasts!

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Thoughts on the book:

I don’t think I’ve ever read a ‘coffee table’ book in its entirety before but now I have! Not only was this book a fun and informative read, but it’s a great reference for developing mood boards or color palettes. As I read the book, I decided to make the above collages for each decade to compare/contrast; sure enough, as time advanced toward the present day, color seemed to start to disappear - especially in the photographs presented in the book. I also noticed that there was a lot of history made in the 1980s/1990s that I only just learned about via this book.

The last spread of the book is entitled ‘Future Forecasts’ and makes some predictions about what colors are likely to appear more in the coming decades - it seems to already be coming true. Thus, I fulfilled my original goal to be able to predict [color] design trends based on my understanding of the past. Things are ever-changing so only time will tell...

In terms of the decades explored, my favorite was the 1930s - specifically the ‘World of Tomorrow’ imagery/colors. The 1939 New York World’s Fair as well as industrial designers (!!!) Norman Bel Geddes, Raymond Loewy, Henry Dreyfuss and Walter Dorwin Teague served as the primary inspiration for this collection. Many may immediately think of ‘The Jetsons’ or ‘Tomorrowland’ at Disney World but I tend to think of the futurist machines that began to appear such as the Zephyr train or more modern kitchen appliances.