Here Comes the Greenery
It’s a bit early for a lot of green, especially in the northern climates. But the Pantone Color Institute says we will be seeing green everywhere this year.
The 2017 color of the year is Pantone 15-0343 Greenery, a shade of yellow-green that “evokes the first days of spring.” Last year was the two colors of baby blue and light pink. 2015 was Marsala, a red-brown shade the color of wine.
The Pantone Color Institute is trying to identify a trend. They collect proof points from car shows, the fashion runways, shoe sections of department stores and automotive colors (the new Mercedes-AMG GT Roadster comes in leaf green). According to the New York Times, “green walls are becoming architectural staples in the form of vertical gardens and green juice is everywhere. The Green party is growing…Dior’s new makeup colors include a lip shade called ‘clover.’”
Pantone describes the color of the year as a “fresh and zesty yellow-green shade that evokes the first days of spring when nature’s greens revive, restore and renew…fortifying attributes of Greenery signals consumers to take a deep breath, oxygenate and reinvigorate.”
So it is the year of green. Look for it in everything you do this year. According to the executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, Leatrice Eiseman, “Greenery symbolizes the re-connection we seek with nature, one another and a larger purpose.” Now that is a color of the year.
Mark Mathis
Mark wrote his first direct-mail fundraising letter in 1981 for the University of Iowa Center for Advancement. The effort raised a few million dollars in undiscovered wills and legacy gifts. From that day forward Mark discovered a love of the big idea that moves the needle.
After 12 years at KWWL, Mark became a business owner as a co-founder of ME&V — rebranded as AMPERAGE in 2015. After 25 years of leading creative teams in video production, graphic design, PR, writing and web development, Mark transitioned out of ownership in 2021. Today he serves in an employee role as special projects consultant.
He is creatively ambidextrous — son of an artist and engineer — and famous for distilling complex ideas down to a few words and a few visuals. Mark is a writer. When he found that many nonprofits struggled with complex branding puzzles, he wrote the book, “NonProfit-NonMarketing .” He also wrote a novel called “Reenactment.”
Mark is an active blogger OneMinuteMarketer® with nearly 1,000 readers each week on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter. One of his most popular YouTube videos is on “How to Look Good on Zoom.”
One of Mark’s fondest business memories was being named to INC 500 two times and attending the INC 500 conference with other winners. Mark is considered by some a Civil War expert (and that explains his novel). Mark also served as an adjunct professor in the business and in the communications departments at Wartburg College.
Mark is a graduate of the University of Iowa and is currently vice president of the University of Iowa Journalism and Mass Communications Advisory Board.
Mark is married to state Sen. Liz Mathis, and the two love to travel, even when it means being trapped by a volcano in the Czech Republic for three weeks.