Colour of the year 2023: How to set the scene with “Viva Magenta” and “Wild Wonder”

Colour of the year: Pantone and Dulux have announced their new colours of the year 2023. We show you how to combine “Viva Magenta” and “Wild Wonder” in a stylish way.

Which colours will be in style over the next few months for homes and interior design? Colour institutes Pantone and Dulux are providing inspiration to the design and interior industries by naming the colour of the year. Join us in taking a look at 2023’s hottest colours. 

For Pantone, 2023 will be a year of changes, and “Viva Magenta” represents its chromatic expression. The vibrant magenta red is a colour pulsating with exuberance and balances optimism and rebelliousness in perfect harmony. Viva Magenta encourages experimentation and introduces a whole new narrative. Pantone’s trend colour was inspired by cochineal red, one of the most precious pigments that nature produces. Leatrice Eisemann, managing director of the Pantone Color Institute, explains: “In this age of technology, we look to draw inspiration from nature and what is real. PANTONE 18-1750 Viva Magenta reconnects us to original matter.”  

Pantone is once again blazing a whole new trail with Viva Magenta. Last year, the institute showcased “Very Peri”, a shade of blue that it created itself after drawing inspiration from the virtual world, and in particular the digital art scene, the metaverse and online gaming. 

Viva Magenta is a colour that makes a statement, directing attention into the space and setting vibrant accents when used alongside bright, natural materials. As a creative wallpaper or wall coating, this dynamic red sets the scene for a design style in which the colours of other furnishings remain elegantly restrained. 

Viva Magenta is also ideal for combining with the minimalist light switches and socket outlets from the Gira Esprit design line in black glass or white glass. 

A number of studios and companies are also demonstrating how Pantone’s new trend colour can be used. Online trader Spoonflower, for one, is using Pantone’s colour of the year 2023 for a four-part series of different designs and surface patterns for wallpapers, fabric and homewares by international artists. New York’s renowned art studio Artechouse, in contrast, is turning the colour of the year into an immersive experience by means of a multisensory installation.  

The colour experts from Dulux are also heralding changes with their colour of the year 2023, however ventured in a different direction. “Wild Wonder” is the name of the light, earthy hue of beige with a high proportion of yellow that radiates warmth and optimism. The Dulux colour trend also found its inspiration in nature, and invokes a natural, welcoming atmosphere. As in previous years, the colour designers have developed ideas for combinations that match: four colour palettes with ten shades respectively provide inspiration on how to harmonise colours with “Wild Wonder” in your home and use it in any number of ways: 

1. Lush Colours: This colour palette places the warm trend colour in among cooler shades of green and grey. The muted natural hues are perfect for a grounded and comforting interior style – for example, in the bedroom.

2. Buzz Colours: This palette is bursting with bolder facets featuring more reds and a higher saturation. Wild Wonder provides upbeat accents between gold and rosé, or even an earthy brown.

3. Raw Colours: From mauve-grey to creamy caramel and brown – this palette is based on earthy shades that exude mellowness and feel comfortable and cocooning.

4. Flow Colours: Cool blues and greys give this fourth palette a unique elegance by adding invigorating contrasts to the warmth of Wild Wonder.

With the new colour palettes from Dulux directing a firm focus on the natural world, you can round off the trend colour of the year 2023 on the wall in style by combining it, for example, with the Gira Esprit linoleum-plywood design line. The natural materials used for these switches and socket outlets ensure they complement 2023’s earthy colour trend perfectly. 

International colour and design experts had already ventured to guess what the colour trends of 2023 would be last summer. Swedish academy NCS Colour and the company Avient determined that the coming year’s trend colours will be reflective of a sense of transformation and departure. Anyone redecorating or redesigning their home over the next few months is encouraged to embrace the boldness of diversity and contrasts. With Viva Magenta and Wild Wonder, Pantone and Dulux are providing two different approaches for a daring new colour scheme within your own four walls.