Sounds Like A Cult The Cult of Pantone (the Color Conspiracy)
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Mar 31, 2026 Kory Stamper, lexicographer and author of True Color, unpacks Pantone’s rise to cultural authority. They explore how Pantone standardized color, the rituals around swatch books, controversies like licensing disputes and tone-deaf Color of the Year choices. Short, sharp looks at naming’s power, color forecasting, and the industry pushback that questions who really owns color.
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When Adobe Blacked Out Pantone Colors
- A 2022 dispute with Adobe led Pantone to require additional fees to access its palette, and Adobe temporarily blacked out those Pantone colors in Illustrator and Photoshop.
- Designers suddenly lost access to thousands of Pantone colors, revealing downstream dependencies.
Color Of The Year Is A Ritualized Forecast
- The Color of the Year functions like an annual cult ritual: grandiose, zeitgeist‑claiming messaging that blends marketing, psychology, and forecasting.
- Because Pantone must forecast far ahead, its announced 'vibes' are necessarily vague and prone to misfires when real events (e.g., a pandemic) shift context.
Greenery Sparked Conspiracy Over Android
- The 2017 Color of the Year 'Greenery' provoked online backlash accusing Pantone of colluding with corporate interests like Android's green text bubble.
- Users treated the pick as a coordinated corporate ploy rather than a neutral trend forecast.
