Breaking news: Olive Sprig is PPG’s Color of the Year for 2022. Sophisticated and soothing at once, this particular melange of gray and green tones symbolizes nature and rebirth. “As many of us know following a year of lockdown, the easiest way to shift your mindset is to change your environment,” says Amy Donato, PPG’s senior color marketing manager, in a press statement. “DIYers, property managers, designers, and architects are shifting away from the stark, neutral palettes of yesterday and opting for color in all forms. Call it rebellion, but we are certainly here for the resurgence of optimistic colors to guide us into a new era of home design.”
Olive Sprig emerged from PPG’s 2022 Global Color Forecasting Workshop, where 30 of the brand’s worldwide color stylists meditated on the idea of resilience, as well as “the need for connection and inspiration from nature.”
“Our stylists. . . all agreed on a green tone pretty early on,” Donato tells AD PRO. “There was some debate over the exact shade of green, with Pine Trail being a close second. However, we also take into consideration how usable a color is for our customers, including homeowners, architects, designers, and contractors. We felt Olive Sprig was usable and also aligned with the warm, colorful neutrals that we had seen rising in popularity more recently.”
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Also helping Olive Sprig earn its Color of the Year status is its ability to convey meaningful notions of comfort, healing, and rebirth across a variety of design contexts. Plus, as Donato notes of another category of neutral toned options: “Cool grays’ long reign seems to be officially be over.”
In addition to Olive Sprig’s encapsulation of current trends, PPG has proffered three distinct color stories that speak to other aesthetic preferences of the moment. The lavish Invaluable, for instance, brings elements of Gatsby-era glamour into the present through bold Gooseberry, Castle Stone, and Ancient Copper. Introspective turns the focus toward wellness and mindful appreciation of simple joys, with Tea Time, Peace, Silver Service, and Pine Whisper acting as companions to the year’s top color. Finally, the Inspired palette accentuates Olive Sprig’s neutral qualities with lively, extroverted tones ranging from Aloha and Crushed Pineapple to Cenote and Paris Pink.
“Trends don’t happen overnight but rather come to fruition after years of being on the rise,” Donato says. “We always say we influence trends as much as trends influence us. In order for a trend to gain traction and initiate purchase, it must represent what we want and what we crave.”
