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As 2023 approaches, the bold shade of pink-red Magenta Viva will reflect the global mood of a world eager to emerge from the darkness of a global pandemic! We at Teeris are beyond excited, as Magenta is our official, representing our personality and values. Magenta Viva is what we would define as an “unconventional” hue. “It is both powerful and empowering,” says Lee Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Colour Institute, and it drives innovation.
Magenta Viva, with its hints of crimson red, hot pink, fuchsia, raspberry, and maroon, promises vivacity and vigor, "welcoming anyone and everyone with the same verve for life and rebellious spirit. It's a bold color, full of spirit and inclusive of all". Pantone defines Viva Magenta as a color that is "assertive but not aggressive"; it is a "carmine red that does not boldly dominate."
At Teeris, we share the values and feelings evoked by this subtly vibrant hue. We honor art, traditions, traveling, and people. We aim to show the planet from a different perspective by focusing on worldwide tribes. Teeris seeks to be the bridge between the indigenous communities and the world, to raise awareness and embrace their beautiful uniqueness. What people consider an “unconventional topic” is instead its main topic: TRIBES.
Though the Pantone Color of the Year encourages us to look forward, magenta has a long and storied history. The first indigenous people that used this dye were the people of Mesoamerica (back to 2000 BEC), who used the rich coloring for aesthetic purposes (dyeing clothes, tinting teeth) and medicinal uses. According to accounts from Spanish conquistadors, the Aztec red was so “impressive” that some speculated it might have magical properties. For Mesoamerican cultures, Magenta Viva signified blood and, therefore, life.
Laurie Pressman, Pantone’s vice president, says that Viva Magenta represents a prevailing desire for optimism, resilience, and outside-the-box thinking. She adds, “We’re living in a time where so many people have been aggressive; that’s what’s needed to go forward,” she says. “We need courage and bravery, but we’re looking for something that promotes joy and is fun. Right now, life is unconventional and challenging in many ways – I think we’re looking for things that help us escape.” Colors are essential for human experiences through connection, storytelling, and communication through art and clothing. Magenta evokes cave paintings and the galaxy's colors, where everything began; Nasa suggests that the earliest plant life on Earth, predating chlorophyll, was believed to be a similar purplish shade.
From the oldest civilizations to the earlier ones, colors have always been used to represent the connection between nature and the spirit world or to communicate specific status quo. For example, purple changed from a status symbol in ancient Rome to royal exclusivity in Byzantium, where making, buying, wearing, or even owning Tyrian purple was a crime punishable by death. Young William Henry Perkin discovered aniline purple in 1856. Perkin graduated from playing with chemistry sets to producing the first synthetic purple dye by dissolving sludgy black sediment from an earlier experiment in methylated spirits, revolutionizing the color industry with Perkin’s discovery. He brought purple within reach of everyone, resulting in a wave of ‘mauve mania.’
Modern Magenta goes beyond simple purple, breaking all the rules, and straddling the line between red and blue. It is both a cool and warm color that is not only apolitical but essentially unifying.
It is a color that is partly ultraviolet and partly infrared; it “doesn’t exist on the spectrum … but it somehow encapsulates the whole range of colors that we can see – and also some that we can’t.”
So, let’s think outside the box, and explore diversity. Let’s be bold and inspired. Let’s be Magenta and be curious through Teeris.
Gamila Mostafa
A Rome-based travel artist, founder of Teeris , oceans and nature lover.
