How graphic designers should think about the 2026 colors of the year

Pantone released their pick for color of the year for 2026 and it’s … white? A lot of designers are scratching their heads, not only because it’s the first time the brand has chosen a white or white-adjacent color for its Color Of The Year. Now, to be fair, it isn’t “white,” it’s “cloud dancer.” Here’s how they describe the color:

A lofty white that serves as a symbol of calming influence in a society rediscovering the value of quiet reflection.

In a year where generative AI-created art and design is poised to become even more ubiquitous – to the chagrin of many artists, creatives, and others – and many of us are reconsidering our relationships to the “Attention Economy,” it makes sense to choose a color that “encourages true relaxation and focus, allowing the mind to wander and creativity to breathe.”

What did designers think was going to be the color of the year?

According to Forbes, many designers predicted a shade of green would be Pantone’s pick. A variety of paint brands chose a shade of green as their color of the year as well, including Behr, Valspar, WGSN and Coloro, and Dunn-Edwards.

This makes sense for similar reasons. As we get more and more disconnected from reality and the natural world and more sucked into algorithmically curated doomscrolls and chatbot loops – in an era where “touch grass” is the current version of “you need to get outside more” – it was a fair guess that a color evoking grass, the forest, and/or the outdoors would be chosen.

How should I utilize the colors of the year in my design projects?

While it can be tempting to use trendy colors in your designs, you don’t want them to seem dated too quickly – it’s better to do your best to create timeless, evergreen designs rather than trying to chase trends. Not that following the trend is even possible this year; your designs likely already included some amount of white space already!

It’s more important to think about what these design trends mean about what clients might be looking for these days. Both Pantone’s Cloud Dancer and the variety of greens paint brands have selected this year evoke natural vibes and the outdoors, and some kind of return to a slower-paced, more relaxing lifestyle. With that in mind, it might not be the best time to lean into busy, maximalist designs that remind people of how scattered, divided, and stressful modern life can be.

At the same time, going too deep into minimalism might be a bad idea as well – nature isn’t clean and empty, it’s organic. But it’s not often chaotic – there’s order to how natural processes work. Finding the balance between human-imposed minimalism and algorithm-led chaos and overstimulation might be what you need to do this year to stay abreast of the trends without being too beholden to them.