Pantone, the world-renowned color corporation, has announced their choice for Color of the Year:

Honeysuckle.

A Color for All Seasons
Courageous. Confident. Vital. A brave new color, for a brave new world. Let the bold spirit of Honeysuckle infuse you, lift you and carry you through the year. It’s a color for every day – with nothing “everyday” about it.

While the 2010 color of the year, PANTONE 15-5519 Turquoise, served as an escape for many, Honeysuckle emboldens us to face everyday troubles with verve and vigor. A dynamic reddish pink, Honeysuckle is encouraging and uplifting. It elevates our psyche beyond escape, instilling the confidence, courage and spirit to meet the exhaustive challenges that have become part of everyday life.

Color specifics can be found here.  For you colorists and chromologists, the RGB code is 203-101-134.  For old-school comicbook artists, it’s close to M75 Y25.

Previous years winners can be found on the press release.  Last year, the color was Turquoise.  For those who wish to be fashionable, Pantone also offers a honeysuckle Visa credit card with a nice clean early-1970s design.

You know how everyone says “[blank] is the new black”?  Well, that color is usually decided by the Color Marketing Group, a non-profit group of 1500 industry members who forecast colors about eighteen months in advance.  The colors they pick are usually followed, as the analysis is usually based on commercial, social, and financial forecasts.  There is also the International Colour Authority and the Color Association of the United States, which seem to be more scientific than commercial.

Do publishers follow these forecasts?  Did Janet Van Dyne consult CMG whenever she designed a new costume?  Does Dr. Spectrum adjust his/her powers to reflect new trends in color theory?  Will the Star Saphires now be known as the “Honeysuckle Honeys”?  Might we see more of Ulu Vakk AKA Color Kid/King/Queen in the revamped Legion of Super-Heroes?

These color trends are, dare we say, “developing”.