For the past 15 years, colour authority Pantone has celebrated a Color of the Year. This year the naturally robust and earthy red Marsala (aka PANTONE® 18-1438) got the nod.

Working with New York-based experience design firm Sub Rosa, Pantone put together a creative campaign behind their color choice to demonstrate the potential of the color. Marsala was chosen for its universal appeal and versatility, including the ability to translate to fashion, beauty, industrial design, home furnishings and interiors.

This marks the second year of Pantone and Sub Rosa’s collaboration on a color of the year campaign. Pantone asked Sub Rosa to start by creating a series of images that captured the color’s bold and exciting spirit. The two teams then worked closely together on a print and social campaign, with careful attention paid to making sure the tone and energy of the creative delivered the mood of an imagined place.

Sub Rosa decided to accomplish this by organizing a story through food, drink, cooking and friends coming together at various stages of an evening meal: appetizers, dinner and dessert. In each vignette, it created multiple layers that speak to a broad design audience. As the party moves from appetizers on the deck to dessert by the fireplace, Sub Rosa plays into associations and feelings that Marsala evokes by adjusting the character and contents of each room.

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