Pantone Color of the Year 2010 -or- Why I Don't Like the Dolphins

“Turquoise is a color that most people respond to positively”

-Levent Ozler via Dexigner.com

Like many football fans, I have one (or two) teams that I root for, followed by a handful of teams that I can get behind when my team is not playing. Beyond that, I can even look at teams I don’t particularly care for and find players or team dynamics that I can respect. In the entire NFL, there is only one team that I really don’t like. At all. That team is the Miami Dolphins. Yes, I find Mercury Morris’s rants about how no team will ever be as good as the ‘72 Dolphins completely boring. Yes, I get annoyed hearing Joey Porter talk smack on New England EVERY time the two teams play. But what it really comes down to is the colors. Turquoise and orange. Gross. Whenever I happen upon a Dolphins game, I immediately become sympathetic to their opponent. ‘Opposites’ color schemes are pretty hit-or-miss. The Vikings pull it off pretty well. You know where I stand on the Mets. A red and green team would likely be a disaster (sorry, St. Patrick’s themed Red Sox jerseys). Maybe having grown up in the 90’s with a healthy amount of turquoise and orange in my wardrobe (relax, you did too) I developed an aversion to it as I got older. But I don’t mind the Florida Marlins uniforms- turquoise makes a nice accent color against a silver and black palette (this also rules out the idea that I have something against Florida… or sea life).. .

This is all a long way of saying that I’m conflicted about the selection of turquoise (Pantone 15-5519) as the Pantone Color of the Year 2010. Around this time last year, I (happily) wrote about the selection of Mimosa as the 2009 Color of the Year. This year I’m not totally sold. Is turquoise to blame for lending itself to such annoying color schemes as that of the Miami Dolphins? Or could any color -improperly paired- contribute to an equally bad color scheme? I’d love some feedback on this. I’m not ready to give up my all ‘mimosa’ wardrobe just yet…

-Ian