Want to predict the next Millennial Pink? Check out Pantone Color Insider, a new tool from Pantone. It will allow you to tap into color trends around the world in real time.

Billed as a “color trend intelligence service,” Pantone Color Insider provides global data on use of all 15,000 shades in the company color matching system. It will help identify both new micro-trends and the longer-range popularity of different colors.

Pantone is known for creating and managing a universal color language that allows designers to consistently use the same colors across digital assets, printed papers, packaging, and products in all manner of materials. But it also famously forecasts the color of the year, announced by the Pantone Color Institute each December to much fanfare. (This year was “Peach Fuzz,” following “Viva Magenta” in 2023 and “Very Peri” in 2022.)

The company hopes that Color Insider will help artists, designers, and companies do their own trend forecasting and make color choices informed by what’s happening in color around the world. Using color can be a way to capture the zeitgeist, but also to stand apart from one’s competitors.

Pantone is launching the Color Insider. Photo courtesy of Pantone.

“We still have trend books, but that’s not enough,” Laurie Pressman, vice-president of Pantone Color Institute, said last month at a demonstration of the new tool for journalists in New York City. “This is what our clients are asking us for. It’s really trying to give people thoughtful color guidance.”

“We’ve been told by clients it cuts four days worth of work into an hour,” Jung Sin, Pantone’s global senior director for digital product management, added.

The Color Insider is part of Pantone Connect, the company’s digital platform, which launched in 2020. It lets designers match each color in their files to their Pantone reference numbers, to ensure accurate color matching. (Adobe previously had a Pantone Color Finder tool in InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop; Pantone Connect requires an additional subscription.)

Pantone is launching the Color Insider. Photo courtesy of Pantone.

So, if you see a dress you like, you can take a photo of it, upload it to Pantone, and learn not only what color it is, but where else that color is being used. This can help you identify color harmonies, and with palette creation.

Pantone believes that the power of color is not to be underestimated—the company found that color influences up to 85 percent of product purchasing decisions and can increase brand recognition by 87 percent.

The color trend service will also have a dedicated editorial arm, which provides analysis of information from the color data tool, as well as examples of how different industries are engaging with color.

Pantone is launching the Color Insider. Photo courtesy of Pantone.

That could include stories from Michelin-starred chefs, musicians, and other creatives celebrating their innovations and sharing color inspirations. There will be industry-specific content across the worlds of fashion, beauty, interior design, and automobiles.

Color Insider will also provide users with valuable information about color theory, as well as how color relates to mood and even psychology. It’s all meant to help guide color decision-making through every step of the design process, from early mood boards to the raw materials to the packaging.

The new tool, which is mobile friendly, costs $299 per year, or $39.99 per month per user.