These are Pantone's most uncomfortable colour tones

Colour authority Pantone is known for forecasting visual trends with its Colour of the Year, with 2020's Classic Blue offering some much-needed "calm, confidence and connection". But a new project has used the company's colour matching system to capture a much more uncomfortable reality of 2020.

'Pain Tone' features colours taken from footage of the killings of innocent black men, matching aspects to various colours from Pantone's library, with names such as Riot Flame Orange, Stun Gun Yellow and Chokehold Green. The project calls them "the world’s most uncomfortable colour tones". (Check out our guide to colour theory to find out more about the relationship between colour and design.)  

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Design Editor

Daniel John is Design Editor at Creative Bloq. He reports on the worlds of art, design, branding and lifestyle tech (which often translates to tech made by Apple). He joined in 2020 after working in copywriting and digital marketing with brands including ITV, NBC, Channel 4 and more.