You know, I am all about colors. Those of you who have been following me for a while know that I am a huge sucker for colors and textures. With these two I could play all day long, every day, forever. In recent years, I have been paying attention to the Pantone Color of the Year. I am not really a trend follower (not even close!), but it is pretty fun to see how these specific color selections affect our lives each year. So anyway, the selection for the color of the year for 2019 is ‘Living Coral’ – described by Pantone as an “animated, life-affirming shade of orange, with golden undertones.”
I don’t know how you feel about this choice, but I must say... I’m pretty unexcited by it~ ☹ I hate to be a party pooper, but this color was really popular for a short time about 5 years ago in Seoul, Korea where I live. A huuuuge wave of coral color covered literally everything: from clothing, accessories, and lip sticks to home decor materials and advertising fonts. Actually, I have a full collection of outfits in coral that I don’t really wear anymore. Is something trying to tell me I’m supposed to dig these out of the closet and don them once again? Hmmm…
Well, ‘what the hey’, I thought, and out of curiosity, I decided to dig through my stash (Knitters, you’re not the only ones who keep huge yarn stashes. I have both yarn AND fabric stashes, too!) to see if I had anything that looked ‘Living Coral’ and here’s what I was able to dig up! I found some coral(-ish) colored fabrics in all different shades, even some fabrics with fun prints that I think match pretty well.
You know what? The more I looked, the more I began to feel the color wasn’t as blah as I thought and actually it was pretty charming! I kinda like (dare I say “love”?) it! The next thing I knew, I was running my machine and created a little bag out of the scratch material I had pulled from my stash. Oh man! First of all, I really like this new line of project bags I designed late last year. And second, I think this Live Coral makes the bag look absolutely alive! Don’t you feel the vibe of spring? The bag is actually blooming right in front of my eyes as I type this!
My heart continuously changes what it likes, but I suppose that is part of what inspires my creations and choice of projects. Does that ever happen to you too? You like something, then get too much of it to the point that you’re so sick of it you actually come to hate it? Only to come back to it a while later and fall totally in love with it again? It’s pretty crazy but I can’t lie – I love my wild, impulsive changes of heart!
Looking forward to hear what you think of Pantone’s choice of ‘Living Coral’ and if your tastes change as dramatically as mine and about what! -Soyun
