As a Bolder Era of Design takes hold, Pantone Adds 224 Vibrant Shades to the Pantone Matching System™

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Carlstadt (New Jersey) [US], September 22: Pantone LLC, the global authority on color and provider of professional color tools for designers, today introduced 224 new colors to the Pantone Matching System™ (PMS), expanding the library to nearly 9000 colors. The additions arrive at a turning point in design; as stark minimalism gives way to bold, unapologetic self-expression, the new colors answer a creative community hungry for more range, more saturation, and more feeling to bring to their designs.
The shift is already visible across the landscape. Designers and consumers alike are embracing emotion-driven color, bold pattern, and personality, a movement reflected in surging interest in maximalism and in the rise of joyful, mood-boosting color across fashion, interiors, product, and graphic design. Today's interpretation of maximalism and the feeling of “more” is intentional. Rather than a chaotic mix of colors, designers are carefully curating every color for the feeling and world it creates for their audience. As a result, color consistency and accuracy has never been more important to properly display that intention.
Built to serve graphic and product designers, brands, printers, converters, and ink manufacturers, the new colors are engineered for real-world production. Available in both coated and uncoated paper stock, they deliver the stability, consistency, and reproducibility that allow a color to travel accurately from the screen to a shelf, bridging physical and digital mediums so teams can specify with confidence across today's product and packaging needs and ensuring the final product is as intended. Reflecting these evolving design trends, the additions help designers stay ahead of the curve while producing more relevant, reproducible options for today’s modern workflows and consumer trends.
To develop the collection, the Pantone Color Institute™ and Pantone’s group of color scientists worked together to leverage their respective cultural forecasting and technical color science expertise to identify, curate and integrate the new colors into the PMS. The resulting additions complement the current system with more range while simultaneously tapping into the future of trend and color.
The 224 new colors are available now across the iconic Pantone Formula Guide, Color Bridge, and Solid Chips Set, with the new colors also offered as a supplement for the Pantone Formula Guide, Color Bridge and Solid Chips Pages for a limited time so existing customers can refresh their collections. The range is also available digitally through Pantone Connect and the Pantone Connect Extension for Adobe Creative Cloud, supporting faster exploration, sharing, and specifying directly within designers' existing workflows.
A Fuller Spectrum of Dynamic Color

The new colors were curated to further deepen every family in the system. The reds are augmented with full-bodied, pink-infused tones that add potency and strength, while the pinks range from tender, romantic rose to the playful and capricious. New oranges spring from three different worlds: the vibrant and floral, the organic and fruity, and the earth-inspired; and the yellows move from earthy and musky to peppery and citrusy, a flavorful, culinary range made to tempt the senses.
On the cooler and deeper end, the new greens are fresh, functional, and restorative, reflecting a desire for harmony with the natural world; the blues expand into the pure, expansive, and meditative, bridging nature and technological innovation; and the purples answer a growing appetite for glamour, from muted and dusky to moody and magnetic. Grounding the collection, new browns, taupes, and neutrals feel natural and honest, while chameleon-like grays lend a quiet, versatile power that supports and contrasts in equal measure.
Four Palettes to Inspire
Beyond the individual colors, Pantone has translated their trend research into four ready-made palettes that show how the new shades come together. Each is a starting point designed to direct and inspire, showcasing how this bold color trend is manifesting into distinct color stories.
*        Desire for Pleasure: Sickly sweet colors as a playful indulgence, evoking flavors of ripe fruit and spun sugar. A pair of playful pinks is elevated by the freshness of aquatic blue and pistachio green, each hue enhancing the other's charm to create a dream-like, uplifting experience. (PANTONE 6288 C, PANTONE 6261 C, PANTONE 6206 C, PANTONE 6375 C, PANTONE 6414 C) 
*        Desire for Exquisite: Inspired by opulent blooms and ripened fruits, a sophisticated palette of saturated color that celebrates the elaborate and the elegant. Chocolate and grape are energized and warmed by a nurturing peach and a pair of hot hues—a deep red and a vibrant orange—creating a rich contrast of light and dark. (PANTONE 6259 C, PANTONE 6322 C, PANTONE 6441 C, PANTONE 6294 C, PANTONE 6268 C) 
*        Oxygenating: A vibrant palette drawn from nature's most brilliant hues—golden amber, neon citrus green, and lush botanical greens. Rooted in organic materials and living ecosystems, these colors embody energy, oxygenation, and transformation, reflecting the restorative power of the natural world. (PANTONE 6406 C, PANTONE 6427 C, PANTONE 6225 C, PANTONE 6421 C, PANTONE 6402 C) 
*        Beyond Boundaries: A family of color that has escaped the rules—buoyant aqua, powdery lavender, magical purple, lime green, and creamy beige. At once nostalgic and forward-looking, playful and scientific, these retro-yet-futuristic hues give designers free rein for creativity and fun. (PANTONE 6373 C, PANTONE 6309 C, PANTONE 6327 C, PANTONE 6423 C, PANTONE 6428 C)
"Designers and brands are embracing color as a form of confidence and bold expression, focusing on the way it makes their audiences feel. The new colors expand the expressive range of the entire system, adding to this trend of bold feeling and excitement. We hope this serves as a tool of inspiration and helps designers find even more range in the Pantone Matching System to bring their ideas to life," said Cindy Cooperman, General Manager & Vice President, Pantone.
Real-World Workflows with Draplin Design Co.
That combination of expression and precision is exactly what drew renowned graphic designer Aaron Draplin of Draplin Design Co. to being the first designer to put the new palettes to work. Oregon-based Draplin, whose work spans brands and artists from Nike, Hot Wheels, and Patagonia to Pearl Jam, Tenacious D, and Chris Stapleton, has built a career on his bold, fearless use of color.
“It's great to step out of your comfort zone. I'm still trying new things every day, chasing new techniques, typefaces and, lately, exploring new colors in my work,“ says Aaron. “Working with Pantone's new colors really pushed me to flip the script and discover combinations that I just hadn't arrived at on my own. And once you let go, everything loosens up and that's where the fun begins—I'm roaming around in fresh, new territory and loving it!”
To see how Draplin integrates the new colors into his workflow and see the behind-the-scenes journey from first inspiration to finished, reproducible work, visit Pantone online at https://www.pantone.com/hk/en-hk/new-pantone-colors-2026
About Pantone
Pantone provides a universal language of color that enables color-critical decisions through every stage of the workflow for brands and manufacturers. More than 10 million designers and producers around the world rely on Pantone products and services to help define, communicate and control color from inspiration to realization – leveraging advanced X-Rite technology to achieve color consistency across various materials and finishes for graphics, fashion and product design. Pantone Standards feature digital and physical color specification and workflow tools. The Pantone Color Institute™ provides customized color standards, brand identity and product color consulting as well as trend forecasting inclusive of Pantone Color of the Year, Fashion Runway Color Trend Reports, color psychology and more. Pantone B2B Licensing incorporates the Pantone Color System into different products and services, enabling licensees to communicate and reproduce approved Pantone values and improve efficiencies for their users. Pantone Lifestyle brings color and design together across apparel, home, and accessories. Connect with Pantone on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn.
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