Is this really the worst colour ever?

You never quite know what debate will take place on Design Twitter on any given day (although right now, you can reasonably assume it'll involve AI). But this week, artists have been enjoying a heated argument over whether a 'worst colour' exists. Because why not?

And it seems there's a clear contender for the dubious honour: #8b8000 (what else?). Yep, puce green has been identified as one of the most offensive hues around, and it seems there are strong feelings on either side of this 8b8000 debate. 

@JadedArtistGal (opens in new tab) shared a plain image of the colour in response to another user claiming there to be "no worst colour" – and at the time of writing the retort has enjoyed 20M views. 

"This colour makes me violent," one user comments, while another adds, "There are a couple of uses for it but yeah honestly this colour is like the lowest of the low. give this colour to an artist and they will stare at you with the intent to kill." But plenty of people are also coming to the colour's defence, sharing what they perceive to be strong applications of the shade:

If anything, the debate proves that when it comes to colour, it's all about context. Colours are designed to be used together (we use palettes for a reason). But even individual colours can provoke an emotional response – just look at all that demand for a hot pink iPhone.

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