What Is the 2022 Color of the Year?

The 2022 AkzoNobel Color of the Year has been announced, and it is nothing if not optimistic: Bright Skies.

Heleen van Gent, Creative Director of AkzoNobel’s Global Aesthetic Center, explained the selection: “The color reflects the limitless skies above us, giving us the space to redefine the role of our homes, nature, the arts and new voices in our lives. As consumers look to express themselves and transform their spaces, our aim as color experts is to inspire their color confidence.”

This is a transition from the color the organization selected in 2021, Brave Ground, which is, well, brown, like ground.

The accompanying photo shows Bright Skies painted on the walls of a room.

But AkzoNobel makes coatings for architecture, aerospace, automotive, consumer electronics and wood coatings customers, so it got us to wondering about the applicability of the color to other products.

Like things that are more of a discrete parts, durable goods nature.

So we asked.

And the word from AkzoNobel is:

“Trend research underpins our choice for Color of the Year and plays a central role in helping us at AkzoNobel to meet the color needs of our customers. Businesses that involve color – Decorative Paints, Powder Coatings (furniture, architecture and domestic appliances), Automotive and Specialty Coatings (aerospace, automotive and consumer electronics), Coil and Extrusion Coatings (architecture, construction, residential and domestic appliances) and Wood Coatings (furniture, cabinetry, flooring and building products) – all use this research to develop market-specific products that will inspire our customers.”

So while various blues tend to cover approximately 10% of new motor vehicles on a global basis (to use just one example), perhaps the color will gain some traction as people are looking for a more positive message as we move out of the pandemic.