jack + huei suggests pantone to help raise awareness of dying coral in 2020

creative duo from australia jack + huei is disappointed by pantone’s choice of color of the year 2019 — they say ‘living coral’ feels tone-deaf because of the mass coral bleaching in recent years. the artists are willing to forget the offense on one condition — they propose that the company names ‘PANTONE bleached coral’ the color of the year 2020.

‘the color is meant to guide, inspire, and shape the world of design and beyond, while reflecting the state of the world as we know it,’ say jack railton-woodcock and huei yin wong. they think pantone’s choice doesn’t reflect nowadays reality: ‘in 2016, climate change caused unprecedented mass coral bleaching in the great barrier reef, the largest living organism in the world.’ the following years showed even less fortunate numbers — the bleaching resulted in 30% loss of coral in 2016 and continued in 2017 with another 20% of polyps losing their color.

‘a brand as influential as pantone should take a stance on the issues facing society, like climate change, using their voice to speak to creators in every industry,’ the duo continues. ‘imagine if the creative community at large brought bleached coral from the depths of the ocean, straight to the clothes we wear, the products we buy, and the media we consume.’ 

the color jack + huei proposes is off-white blue — that’s what coral usually turn when starving. the creatives granted ‘PANTONE P 115-1 U bleached coral’ a sarcastic description dragging even more attention to the idea.

project info:

designers: jack + huei