2010 Color of the Year

The color of the year is...(drumroll, please): Pantone 15-5510 or, in layman's terms, Turquoise. Now I know I'm behind on reporting this. It was announced last December, but lots of other color-focused companies (Benjamin Moore, Sherwin Williams, London's Global Color Research) are jumping on board.

Now forgive me, but really? I find the choice a bit uninspired. Don't get me wrong, turquoise is actually one of, if not my absolute favorite color. It can be simultaneously earthy and airy, rich and whimsical. Its variations conjure up sea-green glass bottles, tropical water, and heirloom hydrangeas. The stone for which the color is named happens to be my birthstone. Suffice it to say that I have an attachment to the color.

My question is when was turquoise not a color of any year? It has somehow transcended decades of fashion, design, and popular taste to remain a happy, beautiful color in everyone's book. I think it deserves a better title than color of a single, stinking year.

Ah, well. Here's to you, Pantone 15-5519.