Pantone, Illumination Entertainment and Universal Partnerships & Licensing unveil industry’s first-ever character-branded color inspired by Illumination’s Minions
PANTONE Minion Yellow to Debut this Summer
In an industry first, Pantone, the global color authority, Illumination Entertainment and Universal Partnerships & Licensing today announced the creation of an official new PANTONE Color, Minion Yellow, based on the Minions from Universal Pictures and Illumination’s Despicable Me global film franchise, including the upcoming prequel Minions, opening in theaters July 10, 2015. The development of PANTONE Minion Yellow, marks the first time in the global color authority’s history that a color has been created and named after a character.
The partnership was born when Pharrell Williams, who helped create the music for the Despicable Me franchise, came up with the idea while the Pantone Color Institute®, the research arm of the company that charts global color trends and studies how color influences human thought processes, emotions and physical reactions, noted the desire of the consumer to add more energizing color into their lives. Pantone noticed that the Minions, created and designed by Illumination, have become a global phenomenon by doing just that across movies, theme parks and video games.
Looking to add to its PANTONE Fashion, Home + Interiors color palette, Pantone worked closely with the animation team at Illumination to review the existing color range and to identify the most pure representation of the Minions’ iconic yellow color. The resulting PANTONE Minion Yellow is a custom color designed to represent the sweet and subversive characters. An extroverted hue, it projects playfulness and warmth and is suggestive of intellectual curiosity and enlightenment.
“Color is contextual and right now there is a desire for colors that are more vibrant and uplifting. This is especially the case with the yellows, so given the worldwide popularity of the Minions, it seemed only natural to name a color after a character for the first time in our history,” said Laurie Pressman, Vice President, Pantone Color Institute. “When developing the color, we worked directly with the animation team at Illumination, and we thoughtfully considered the characters’ aura to ensure PANTONE Minion Yellow is the exact right hue.”
“Pantone has long established its reputation as the global color authority,” said Jamie Stevens, Executive Vice President, Global Retail Development, Universal Partnerships & Licensing. “We are thrilled that their color experts saw market demand for yellow and looked to the Minions, as global pop culture icons, to add into its yellow spectrum.”
“PANTONE Minion Yellow is a color that heightens awareness and creates clarity, lighting the way to the intelligence, originality and the resourcefulness of an open mind – this is the color of hope, joy and optimism,” said Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director, Pantone Color Institute.
The custom PANTONE Minion Yellow color will be added to the PANTONE Fashion, Home + Interiors color palette with the next color addition.
The color has already served as inspiration for a designer capsule collection based on the Minions that was also announced today. The collection features limited-edition apparel and accessories from UK-based designers Rupert Sanderson, Giles Deacon, Piers Atkinson, Tatty Devine and Criminal Damage and also includes denim designs from SJYP, a new label out of South Korea. The “Minions Bello Yellow Collection” will debut exclusively at Selfridges in June 2015, followed by roll out to global retail partners including Parisian retailer Colette in July 2015.
– Painting Pro Times. (2015, April 29). Retrieved from http://paintingprotimes.com/blog/2015/04/29/fun-stuff-minion-yellow/
