Audacious, full of wit, inclusive, and empowering: That’s the Pantone Color Institute’s (PCI) description of Viva Magenta, 2023’s Color of the Year. Generated by a data-fed AI program fuelled by PCI’s color anthologists’ trend analysis, the pinkish-purplish-reddish tone is “an unconventional shade for an unconventional time.” The color reflects the state of global culture at a given moment in time — a color through which to represent and express what society is looking for, according to PCI Vice President Laurie Pressman.

Interestingly, it’s an entirely fabricated color: As a color magenta does not exist on its own, it’s made up of a natural fading of red and purple that the brain averages out — and in Viva Magenta’s case it was AI-created as PCIs creatives were unable to find the perfect shade. But Viva Magenta is a departure from the course. Artist and author of Chromophobia, David Batechlor, notes a history of western aversion to bright colors, which are seen to be primitive or infantile, as well as riskier choices during times of recession, reports Business Insider. Apple has long accommodated these tendencies, manufacturing an aesthetic of cool, metallic colors and materials all with clean lines. Goethe, who believed that lurid and garish colors were for children and animals while muted tones were for sophisticated adults, would have approved.

The psychology of color: Color can link emotion to human behavior, as Johann Goethe’s Theory of Colors first explored, linking the way colors can impact and express human emotions, behaviors and character traits: Red, Goethe wrote, is beautiful, rational and imaginative, while green is useful, intellectual and sensual. Psychologist Robert Plutchik’s Wheel of Emotion took this further, connecting the development of the strength of an emotion to the intensity of a color shade — a light sky blue might suggest pensiveness, but dark navy indicates grief.

But can a color capture a global zeitgeist? Looking at Viva Magenta, its hot pinkish-purplish tones evoke urgency, playfulness and rebellion — and it’s glaringly unavoidable. Sat somewhere between blue and red on the color wheel, it is a hybrid that withstands boxes. Is it compromising then, asks the New York Times, or politically optimistic? Does its name, Viva Magenta, or the immersive exhibition that accompanied its reveal, “the Magentaverse,” nod to Mark Zuckerberg’s Metaverse? Or are we to draw parallels between the birth of magenta — named after 1859s Battle of Magenta when the color was worn in a symbol of support of Italy’s fight for independence — and the creation of Viva Magenta in a year which has witnessed Ukraine’s war against Russia?

Selling potential: Viva Magenta does not just represent a (potentially generalized) global desire for upheaval. It is also here to sell. A 2006 study, The Impact of Color in Marketing, found that 90% of customers’ product decisions are based on color alone. These findings echo Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung’s claim that “colors are the mother tongue of the subconscious.” And colors on the red end of the color scale have been proven to instigate impulsive purchases. It’s no surprise that the team behind PCI’s Color of the Year, Pressman and Leatrice Eiseman, are two students of color psychology.

The Viva Magenta Brand: Already the face of two brand agreements (Motorola and Cariuma) and a host of products (mugs, key chains, postcards), the choice of Viva Magenta has clear ties to its ability to influence global marketing and branding strategies — as does the foundation of the Color of the Year. Look carefully and you can already see the color’s selling power. On Instagram interior design profiles, the vibrancy of Viva Magenta stands out in polar opposite to the current proliferation of Elephant’s Breath painted walls, a warm mid-gray color produced by Farrow and Ball, that has also been referred to as “greige.” While greige is an “unambitious, anodyne aesthetic,” as Batchelor wrote in the Guardian, the vivacity of Viva Magenta is inescapable and has a clear ability to catch the eye and sell. The NYT pinpoints TikTok’s “follow” and “upload” buttons — which are both a Viva Magenta Color — while celebrities like Lewis Hamilton, Kate Middleton and Harry Styles have all been spotted decked out in VM shades.