Pantone’s new colors prove we’re living in a ‘more-is-more’ world

Pantone’s Matching System just got more range. The company recently introduced 224 colors, which it says represent shifting design trends toward bolder hues and unusual combinations. The colors, announced Wednesday, are the first additions since 2022, when the company unveiled warm grays and dark neutrals. Pantone’s newest colors for 2026 are available as a $482 color bridge guide set and as $90 spot color chip set. The Carlstadt, New Jersey-based company now offers nearly 9,000 colors. Pantone says the latest expansion to its color-matching tool used by designers, printers, and manufacturers was inspired by trends spotted by its global team of “color anthropologists” at the Pantone Color Institute. The new shades mark a shift away from minimalism toward bold yet intentional maximalism, favoring richer saturation and higher contrast. [Photo: Pantone] Gen Z is driving this maximalist aesthetic, as that cohort uses and responds to color differently than millennials accustomed to neutrals, beiges, and muted tones, according to the institute. And while we’ve been seeing the change for some time now, the release of these new Pantone color packs indicates that “more-is-more” color syste…