Let’s talk about one way you can integrate pop culture into your coaching brand this year as a creative exercise. Did you know that there is a color of the year?
When I saw this year’s color of the year, I started thinking about how actually, the color of the year relates to themes we look at in coaching with our clients all the time. In coaching, colors come up frequently. A client might use colors to describe an emotion, or an experience, or we’ll ask, what color a topic evokes for them. Colors are such an accessible way to get in touch with your experience of something, and often a great access point to connect with something intangible.
Every year the Pantone Color Institute announces a “color of the year” that represents fashion, design, and cultural trends. The color represents the global culture at that moment. This year, Pantone announced that the Pantone Color of the Year for 2020 is Classic Blue, Pantone 19-4052. So, what could this mean for you and your coaching business?
In discussing the color of the year, you can look at it both thematically as part of the conversation of what is showing up in the world (the color is chosen to meet the moment), as well as how you might integrate this into your coaching, and use this with your clients. I took a look at the color of the year, and put together some thoughts on how this relates to wellbeing and the coaching industry, and invite you to take a peek at my notes and see what ideas it creates for you. Let’s dive in!
Classic Blue, Pantone Color of the Year
The choice for 2020 of “Classic Blue” is especially poignant when you draw the parallel to when the Color of the Year concept was started, 20 years ago. Back then, in 1999, the color of the year was “Cerulean Blue”. At that time, the Cerulean Blue color was chosen as a calming, serene color to respond to the anxieties circulating around the end of the millennium. That message is all too relevant this year.
“From now and then [1999], there’s the same feeling of trepidation about the world, which is why, based on what we saw happening in our global culture, we selected Pantone 19-4052, Classic Blue, to be our color of the year for 2020. It’s a reassuring blue, full of calm and confidence. It builds connection.” Laurie Pressman, Vice President of the Pantone Color Institute, Time Magazine
The Pantone Color Institute shares that Classic Blue, evokes feelings of the sky at dusk. It captures feelings of anticipation around what the next part of the day will bring as you head into the evening. In this, the color is both grounding and reassuring, thought-provoking and looking forward. Laurie Pressman, Vice President of the Pantone Color Institute shares that, “We’re living in a time that requires trust and faith and confidence.” This color speaks to that.
What the Color Means in Psychology
The color blue is versatile and depending on the use and tone of the color, it can be associated with a range of emotions. Blue is associated with trust, dependability, calmness, coolness, intelligence and respect. However, blue is also associated with feeling “down”, and feeling sad. It can also indicate being cold or unwelcoming, particularly if the shade of blue has a cold undertone.
Color Preference Associations
A study published in 2010 by psychologists Stephen E. Palmer and Karen Schloss posits that a person’s color preference can be determined by an average of the degree someone likes things they associated with that color. So if you associate yellow with vomit and bananas, and you can’t stand either of those, maybe it’s not your color. Sorry for the gross example. Whereas if you associate yellow with sunshine and golden retrievers, you might associate it with happiness and warmth.
Really, if you think about it, a lot of the things you associate with blue are considered positive; the sky, the ocean, pools, jeans, blueberries. And no surprise, the two things the study mentions people most associate with blue are the sky and water.
“No matter where you are in the world, if it’s a clear, sunny day when it’s nice to be outside, the sky is blue. And water that’s clear is going to be bluish,” Karen Schloss (Artsy.net)
The study found that color preferences can shift, and when they tested variations and attempted to alter people’s preferences, they were able to shift preferences based on associations.
In general, “favorite colors” showed to shift throughout the year, based on the season where increased positive associations were experienced. For example, tones of yellow and orange increased in preference during the fall – think cozy hayrides and leaves changing color. During election periods, preferences toward red or blue spiked depending on political preferences!
Favorite Color by Country
A worldwide survey in 2015 showed blue to be the most popular color in 10 countries across four continents, including Britain, Germany, US, Australia, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia. (YouGov) And guess what? Blue is supposedly America’s favorite color.
This shade of blue meets the moment people are collectively experiencing this year.
“It speaks to our feelings of anticipation, when you think about the sky at dusk, the day isn’t over. You’re thinking, what’s ahead of us? It’s reassuring, but thought-provoking. It highlights our desire for this dependable, anchoring foundation on which to build as we cross the threshold into a new era. We’re living in a time that requires trust and faith and confidence. We all see this blue sky and can relate to it, it’s approachable.” Laurie Pressman, Vice President of the Pantone Color Institute
Reassuring, thought-provoking, trust and faith. Well hello, is this relevant to your work as a coach or what? Let’s look into that.
Opportunities to Use Blue in Your Coaching
So, cool! We’ve got this color of the year, and now what? Let’s look at how you might incorporate this blue-ness into your coaching with clients this year.
Drawing in Coaching
Get out the markers or colored pencils, and use drawing with colors in your coaching session. In exploring a topic, encourage your client to draw it, and use colors to express their emotions in your session. What powerful questions can you ask as you explore these colors? What does that evoke in your client?
Blue in Nature
The ocean, water, the sky… blue is all around you in nature. There have been lots of studies on the benefits of experiencing nature in various capacities. One of my favorites is being studied by a dear friend of mine, who is researching (and coined the term) “skychology” for his PhD in England. The sky is always above us, available and free to take in. In looking up to the sky, we can tap into awe, a sense of things bigger than us, a bigger perspective, and a sense of calm.
You might invite your client to explore blue in nature; to experience awe and savoring of the blue around them, and see what that brings.
Blue Mood Boards
You could invite your client to create a mood board based around the color blue, and collect images of blue things that they connect with.
Journaling
You might offer this as a blog topic for your client – what does this color of the year mean to them?
Meditation
Integrate blue into a meditation or visualization.
Nature Relaxation Videos
Okay, this video is not actually of the right shade of blue to represent the color of the year, but I’ve been really into nature relaxation videos as a way to relax. This one is a personal favorite. I definitely have the song memorized, and could hum it for you (I won’t).
What Ideas Do You Have?
What other ideas do you have for how you could bring the color of the year into your coaching? I’m sure you have a bunch of other creative ways you like to bring color into your coaching. Message me and share your ideas! I’d love to hear them.
