Very Peri — the Pantone color of 2022 and how your business can use it

It’s likely you’ve already heard the term ‘Very Peri’; everyone and their dog have been buzzing about it lately. 

Very Peri this, Very Peri that… 

But what is Very Peri? Long story short, Very Peri is currently the trendiest, most popular in the Pantone color book — it’s also the color of 2022! 

The meaning behind Very Peri, what it represents, which colors it goes well with, and, most importantly, how it can be of use for your business — all in this article! 

Read till the very end, because we’re sharing 12 successful examples of commercial use of Very Peri and a lifehack that will allow you to add this trendy color to your designs in under a minute! 

What is Very Peri?

If you hadn’t heard of Very Peri before December 2021, there’s a good reason for that. For the first time in the Pantone Color Institute’s 23-year history of selecting a hue to represent the year ahead, they’ve decided to ignore the enormous collection of already existing colors and opt for a brand-new hue created just for the occasion. 

It wasn’t just a whim. 

When choosing the color of the year, the Pantone Color Institute takes into consideration all the emerging trends in society and all the socio-cultural changes we are going through. In 2021, we’ve been through quite a transformation. And as the world is transcending into the digital realm at an unprecedented pace, it’s only going to unfold further. 

Pantone combed through the world looking for a color with the most influence and decided that no ‘old’ shade was good enough to represent the amount of newness in our lives. So they introduced Very Peri to symbolize ‘the global zeitgeist of the moment and the transition we are going through’’. 

So, what is the meaning behind Very Peri?

As we emerge from an intense period of isolation, our notions and standards are changing, and our physical and digital lives have merged in new ways. Digital design helps us to stretch the limits of reality, opening the door to a dynamic virtual world where we can explore and create new color possibilities. With trends in gaming, the expanding popularity of the metaverse, and the rising artistic community in the digital space PANTONE 17-3938 Very Peri illustrates the fusion of modern life and how color trends in the digital world are being manifested in the physical world and vice versa.

Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director of The Pantone Color Institute

As described by Pantone themselves, Very Peri is ‘a dynamic periwinkle blue hue with a vivifying violet-red undertone that blends the faithfulness and constancy of blue with the energy and excitement of red’. 

They definitely have a way with words, don’t they; couldn’t have said it better myself.

But for those of you who like to see things rather than hear about them… Drumroll, please! The ‘It’ color of 2022 — Very Peri, also known as “happiest and warmest of all the blue hues” or…

• Pantone: PANTONE 17-3938 TPG
• RGB: 102, 103, 171
• HEXCODE: #6667AB
• CMYK: 40, 40, 0, 33

Very Peri and other colors — the best combinations

Every year, along with the color of the year, Pantone also releases official color palettes that bring the best out of it.

According to the Pantone Color Institute, the following four are going to be the trendiest Very Peri color combinations:

• Balancing Act, where warm tones support and enhance each other, and Very Peri ‘is intensified, injecting a feeling of liveliness and visual vibration’.
• Wellspring, which highlights the compatibility of Very Peri with natural greens.
• The Star of the Show, where — as it can be deduced from the name of the palette — Very Peri plays the central role.
• Amusements, which explores the playfulness and spontaneity of Very Peri. 

But these are far from the only color combinations that work with Very Peri. 

We’ve asked VistaCreate’s very own color masters — senior creative designer, creative designer of the Colors Project, Anna Dzhulii, and graphic designer, Julia Lizunova — to share their favorite Very Peri color combos. 

Anna Dzhulii: Very Peri goes well with Indigo (#4B0082), Light Blue (#ADD8E6), Beige (#F5F5DC), and Lavender (#E6E6FA). Generally speaking, Very Peri is a pretty niche color, but it works great with light colors from a yellow palette. 

Julia Lizunova: Very Peri looks particularly good with White, Grey, Light Yellow, and the majority of purple shades, especially those on the lighter side of the spectrum.  

How can your business use Very Peri? [+ Examples]

In one of our previous articles, we talked plenty about color trends in 2022 that your business should hop on to stay relevant. Very Peri, of course, was among the trends. If you want your business to be visually appealing, you should consider adding Very Peri to your designs. 

That being said, you don’t necessarily have to center all of your designs around this color. Especially not if Very Peri is far from your signature color palette (remember, color consistency is above all!). 

Anna Dzhulii: Very Peri should be used as a complementary color. There are very few instances when it would look good as the main color as it’s quite “pale”. If this color prevails, the template may become somewhat gloomy. It falls short of being an accent color just because of the aforementioned “paleness”.

The industries that Very Peri suits best:

• Insurance businesses
• Event businesses (wedding businesses in particular)
• Logistics
• Beauty businesses
• Cosmetics
• Construction companies

To quote Anna, ‘Very Peri is suitable primarily for bold and daring businesses. If applied in the branding or marketing communications of a small business, it can convey the spirit of innovation well’.

Here are a few examples of Very Peri in action to inspire your marketing designs, packaging, or even branding a Very Peri makeover. 

Very Peri in packaging

You can dress your products in Very Peri by adding this color to your packaging. Here are a couple of examples of brands that did it successfully. 

Very Peri in branding

Very Peri can bend to fit your specific business needs — you can experiment with different color combinations to find the trendy result that works well for your brand. 

Depending on the colors that Very Peri is paired with, it can create either a sense of calm or an energetic feeling. For instance, when paired with muted colors like light yellow, Very Peri can appear tranquil — perfect for a meditation app logo! 

Similarly, candle + friends balances the energetic and vibrant red in their branding with Very Pery to evoke peaceful associations. 

However, combinations of Very Peri with brighter colors can bring out the joyous energy this blueish color holds. For example, when paired with bright yellow, it becomes zestful and dynamic.

Very Peri in marketing designs 

The easiest way to introduce Very Peri to your audience is by including it in your marketing communications. You can go as big or as small as you want with the color’s presence in your social media post designs — starting with barely noticeable Very Peri accents and ending with grande periwinkle color carousels. 

How to quickly add Very Peri to your designs?

With VistaCreate’s brand new feature addition, Styles, you can create a Very Peri color scheme in a couple of clicks. 

Either find a periwinkle color template in the VistaCreate library and transfer the style to your design or import a color palette from a photo. It’s easy and free! 

1. Choose a template you like from the VistaCreate template library and start editing it.
2. Upload a picture that contains Very Peri to ‘My Files’ and add it to the artboard.

3. Click on the 4-point star icon. Then, click on the palette the feature generates from the photo.

4. Shuffle until you find the color order you like. Then, delete the picture with the color from the artboard and shuffle.

Et voila! You have successfully created a Very Peri template in just a couple of clicks!