It’s Emerald 17-5641 – Pantone colour of the year for 2013

When Pantone announced their Colour of the Year the design industry explodes. Everybody from web designers to upholsterers wants to find a way of using the colour of the year in a proactive and ingenious way.

For 2013 the Pantone Colour of the Year is Emerald 17-5641 and as we’re past the half way mark it’s a good time to see how website design has adapted and incorporated this colour and how it can be used to great effect.

Having a colour that’s designated on trend each year is a fantastic way of creating buzz around the field of design and Emerald 17-5641 has been described as ‘Lively. Radiant. Lush.’ Green has many connotations, that of luxury and regeneration as well as its natural associations. Below we’re taking a look into how you can combine the colour of the year in your website design projects.

Emerald as the Dominant Colour

As the dominant colour emerald can be used in a number of ways and is often used to be representative of money or nature. It’s a popular colour for environmental marketing and branding websites, with the connotation that ‘green’ is representative of environmental or ecological issues.

Emerald can be successfully used as the background colour for a web design as it can be easily paired with other colours and therefore doesn’t look out of place. The Emerald green with hints of blue that’s demonstrated in Pantone Emerald 17-5641 is very striking when used as the sole colour in a design. It’s a striking shade which makes you stop and take a second glance, even without any adornment.

Green on green designs have also become popular as they combine Pantone Emerald 17-5641 with complimentary shades and create a striking monotonicity.

Emerald as an Accent Colour

If you don’t feel like going all out and using Pantone Emerald 17-5641 as your dominant colour then you can work it in as an accent. It can be used cleverly as an accent in call-to-action elements and areas where you’re trying to drive the end user. This theory works because sub-consciously we have learned to associate shades of green to mean GO.

Work it into your design for buttons that need to be clicked such as subscription sign-ups or even buying buttons.

The depth and definition of Emerald 17-5641 can actually work well for text too. It can be incorporated into drop shadows or used for hyperlinks – it allows a design to be taken to another level. Emerald accents paired with light backgrounds creates a minimalist but energetic feel and could work for clients in a range of different industries.