Pantone’s annual Color of the Year announcement generates a lot of creative discourse at the end of the year, including from “color liberator” and artist Stuart Semple.
In response to Pantone’s proclamation of “Peach Fuzz” as 2024’s Color of the Year, Semple has released “Cheap Buzz” as social commentary on the weight and significance we all collectively bestow upon Pantone as the world’s leading color expert. Unlike Pantone, Semple doesn’t lock hues behind a subscription and has no love for making what basically amounts to a frequency number on the visual spectrum proprietary.
“Cheap Buzz is exactly what Pantone’s Color of The Year is all about. This nonsense is a self-fulfilling prophecy; they pick the color, and creators of all kinds toe the line. Surely, it’s time we asked the question of who gave them the power to decide,” Stuart said in a press release.
Not one to hold back, Semple added, “Peach Fuzz is a desperate commercial attempt to cash in on a media moment. This cynical shade is hoped to dominate the color choices made by the mind and soul of creators around the world.”
Semple raises a good point: why is anyone, like Pantone, the arbitrator of the Color of the Year for the rest of us? Maybe, collectively, we’re all a little too hung up on end-of-year lists and announcements. Either way, if you want to create using “Cheap Buzz,” the pigment is available from Semple’s website now. By adding it to your shopping cart, you agree you are not a Pantone employee, associated with Pantone, or will share it with anyone who is.
Oh, and the website still asks to confirm you’re not Anish Kapoor when you load it, so he’s not allowed to buy Cheap Buzz, either. Sorry, Anish.