Pantone Color of the Year: Viva Magenta

Featured Image: Pantone’s 2023 Color Of The Year: Viva Magenta

Beginning in 1999, Pantone began releasing a yearly color that defines the spirit or mood of that particular year. Over the past 24 years, “the Pantone Color of the Year has become a pop culture phenomenon, commanding attention from the global design community and delivering an iconic message to billions of color enthusiasts.” This year, Pantone has proudly announced that Viva Magenta is the “it” color in fashion, home and interior décor, graphic design, and consumer product advertising and packaging.

“Welcome to the Magentaverse”

While Viva Magenta is stunning without explanation, knowing why this red hue dominates for 2023 is part of the fun. With its balance between warm and cool, Viva Magenta displays versatility amongst various style preferences. Descending from the red color-family, Viva Magenta is “brave and fearless, a pulsating color whose exuberance promotes a joyous and optimistic celebration.”

Spawning from a color in nature, Pantone’s Color of the Year hails from the cochineal beetle. Cochineal beetles produce carmine dye, which is strong, bright, and precious, thus further strengthening our awareness and appreciation for the beauty nature beholds. This was a large component in the color selection process this year because people have been incorporating more nature into their homes through plants and living walls, but people are also discovering new pleasures in outdoor space and outdoor activities after the pandemic altered our daily life. Not only that, but there has been a rise in awareness to what we use to fuel our bodies and there’s an ongoing effort to try to keep what we ingest as pure as possible. “All of these lifestyle trends speak to the heartiness of natural forces… The red tone of Viva Magenta connects us to original matter, imbibing us with a primordial signal of strength.”

Powerfully stated by Pantone and the depth behind their color of the year decision lies here:

Pantone’s Color of the Year, Viva Magenta 18-1750, vibrates with vim and vigor. It is a shade rooted in nature descending from the red family and expressive of a new signal of strength. Viva Magenta is brave and fearless, and a pulsating color whose exuberance promotes a joyous and optimistic celebration, writing a new narrative.

This year’s Color of the Year is powerful and empowering. It is a new animated red that revels in pure joy, encouraging experimentation and self-expression without restraint, an electrifying, and a boundaryless shade that is manifesting as a stand-out statement. PANTONE 18-1750 Viva Magenta welcomes anyone and everyone with the same verve for life and rebellious spirit. It is a color that is audacious, full of wit and inclusive of all.

Designing with Various Reds

If Pantone’s exquisite breakdown and explanation behind their color selection leaves you wanting more, you are not alone. Integrating the power of red into your home is easy with Arizona Tile. “Reds are power colors that celebrate life,” Pantone explains. Adding dashes of red hues throughout your home will reconnect you with the strength you need to be both empathetic and in control.

Image: Castle Brick Red Living Room Porcelain Wall Tile from Arizona Tile

With any design, you are the creator. Whether it be wall color, floor material, countertop surface, bathroom ambiance, etc., integrating red can be done in several ways. Some reds are darker and bolder, like maroon, while others are softer and lighter, like various pinks. One age-old style that never seems to lose popularity is brick walls. Having an exposed brick wall, or creating one, inside of a home can add a boho-chic style or an industrial feel. Offering various shades of red throughout the brick coloring, Castle Brick Red surrounds you in warmth and comfort, be it on the floor or on the wall. In addition to red, Castle Brick porcelain tile comes in four other color options, including white which makes for a clean slate to accessorize your home in other colors, including Viva Magenta décor.

Image: Quarry Colonial Red Abrasive Outdoor Patio Tile from Arizona Tile

Similar in color, but different in look and texture, the Quarry Colonial tile series is a full-bodied clay tile that is very dense, extremely durable, and highly resistant to staining. Able to withstand extreme cold weather conditions, this tile is a good option for exterior use so you can appreciate being outdoors, absorbing the beauty of nature, while being able to enjoy your red-hued design features.

Image: Flash Blush Ceramic Kitchen Wall Tile from Arizona Tile

Reaching the other end of the red spectrum, you will find a very muted red, also known as pink. Pink is nurturing and playful but also has some of the same associations with red, like love and romance. It is also largely found in nature and creates a connection to the outdoors, just like Pantone’s color of the year. Flash Ceramic wall tile is gentle in texture with a soft glaze. Offered in eight colors, all which could be paired in your favorite version of red or Viva Magenta itself, Flash tile will glimmer with its elegant touch in any indoor space.

Image: Gioia Rosso Low-Fired Porcelain Bathroom Wall Tile from Arizona Tile

Colors in their pure forms are fun and playful. A good way to integrate youthfulness is by having fun with color. If that’s the route you might consider, Gioia series offers sixteen color options that are bright and have an undulated texture. A stunning accent to any design, from traditional to ultra-modern, this porcelain product includes a red (Gioia Rosso), like a version of Pantone’s Color of the Year 2023; a blue, like versions of Pantone Color of the Year 2020 and Pantone Color of the Year 2022; and a yellow, like Pantone Color of the Year 2021.

Natural Red Stone

Red is found all throughout nature, including in natural stone. Granite is created through natural processes deep underground. Depending on the elements in each piece of granite, the coloring will be different.

Image: Desert Canyon Granite Kitchen Island from Arizona Tile

Desert Canyon granite is a stunning stone slab with the warmth of nature running through it. Not only does it include browns and reds, but you may also see gold, blue and grey. And, of course, because granite is made through natural processes, no two slabs are identical.

Image: Crema Bordeaux Red-Toned Granite Slab from Arizona Tile

Whether it be the layers of stone, the dye from the cochineal beetle, the wings of a cardinal, or the strip in the rainbow, there is red all around us that is naturally created. For more inspiration of how to integrate red into your home or business, take a look at our other related blogs Top Places to Accent Your Home with Red Tiles, and Warm Color Tile: Yellow, Orange, and Red Hues.

Previous Color Inspiration

Red is a wonderful color but there are a plethora of colors to consider for your projects. Previous years of Pantone Color of the Year are good for inspiration, so feel free have a look at 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022!

Arizona Tile wants to work with all your design inspirations and styles. Check out our Just Imagine- Tile Visualizer to see some of your favorite tile and stone in the space you’re designing. If you are able, stop in to any store or slab yard to see your favorite selections in person. If you need additional help along the way, please reach out to the helpful and knowledgeable staff at Arizona Tile!