yellow. Yellow. YELLOW!

For the last two to three years, I have noticed YELLOW's emergence. I read a compelling article in the Paris Review about its prevalence. It has been dubbed “Gen-Z-Yellow,” and it is everywhere. Millennial Pink somehow migrated into a new generation, a hue brighter and more optimistic though not as sweet. I am perplexed, however, that so many shades of YELLOW can be defined as Gen-Z-Yellow.

I love all of YELLOW's machinations. From Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine-- she defines her goal as “spreading contagious joy”:

… to Mayor Pete, who uses what he calls “Heartland Yellow,” a harvest yellow connected to the Midwest, humble beginnings and practical sensibilities:

The YELLOW that is emerging now is ochre, a hue that has always been a favorite of mine because it connects all colors beautifully together. It comes from something more primal, the early cave drawings and the earth. Throughout my career, I have pushed for the adoption of ochre on various projects, and I have learned that ochre is very polarizing, either loved or hated.

While each of these YELLOWS tells a different story and elicits different emotive responses, they still come from one color family, YELLOW, not the longest wavelength in the color spectrum, but considered the most luminous. It is its luminance that I believe we are drawn to now.

While Gen-Z popularized the color, I sense this movement is something bigger than just a color for one generation. It is YELLOW in all of its glory, its evolutions, and subtleties. As I see it, at present and in the near future, we are sinking deeply into YELLOWS that have more weight, make us more grounded and in the end, more cautiously optimistic.

sending new shades of meaning,
Laura Guido-Clark
Founder
LOVE GOOD COLOR