New Spring 2009 Colors Debut; Download Exclusive Swatches Palette

Any good graph­ic design­er knows the new, hip graph­ic and indus­tri­al design col­ors are dic­tat­ed by the fash­ion world. Today the fash­ion world pro­claimed the top 10 col­ors for Spring 2009. And Quark VS InDesign​.com and Designorati​.com have the exclu­sive on Spring 2009 col­or palettes for down­load and instant use in Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, QuarkXPress, and just about any oth­er design application.

Pantone Fashion Colors Spring 2009

New Spring 2009 col­ors as shown in the down­load­able palette.

Twice year­ly, at the start of the Spring and Fall fash­ion shows, Pantone sur­veys fash­ion design­ers to col­lect feed­back on promi­nent col­lec­tion col­ors, col­or inspi­ra­tion, col­or phi­los­o­phy and each design­er’s sig­na­ture shade. This infor­ma­tion is used to cre­ate the PANTONE® Fashion Color Report and serves as a ref­er­ence tool through­out the year to fash­ion, indus­tri­al, and graph­ic design­ers alike. 

According to the report, blue and pur­ple lead the top 10 hues for spring ’09. The palette also includes pops of vibrant col­or rep­re­sent­ing the opti­mism of the sea­son, com­bined with sophis­ti­cat­ed neu­trals to ground the palette and pro­vide sta­bil­i­ty in an unpre­dictable eco­nom­ic cli­mate. A spec­trum of greens rounds out the report, evok­ing a sense of fresh­ness and new beginnings.

“New York’s fash­ion design­ers encour­age hope­ful atti­tudes with live­ly col­ors, while sophis­ti­cat­ed, ground­ed hues address the need for sta­bil­i­ty in times of eco­nom­ic uncertainty,” said Leatrice Eiseman, exec­u­tive direc­tor of the Pantone Color Institute.

The top 10 spring ’09 col­ors for women are: 

  • PANTONE 18–4043 Palace Blue
  • PANTONE 15–3817 Lavender
  • PANTONE 14–0754 Super Lemon
  • PANTONE 15–1626 Salmon Rose
  • PANTONE 18–2328 Fuchsia Red
  • PANTONE 14–1307 Rose Dust
  • PANTONE 16–5804 Slate Gray
  • PANTONE 16–6339 Vibrant Green
  • PANTONE 16–0435 Dark Citron
  • PANTONE 14–5714 Lucite Green 

Fall ’08 [down­load palettes of the Fall 2008 Colors from Quark VS InDesign​.com] saw blue and pur­ple rise to the fore­front of fash­ion. As is often true, col­ors evolve from sea­son to sea­son, and spring ’09 is no excep­tion. Palace Blue, a favorite among design­ers this sea­son, takes a stead­fast, clas­sic, spring navy-like tone and makes it sparkle. Paired with just about any col­or in the report, it offers many intrigu­ing spring com­bi­na­tions. Taking pur­ple in a lighter direc­tion, Lavender presents a soft­er, more sum­mery hue, extend­ing the mys­ti­cal aspects of pur­ple avail­able last fall. 

As yel­low con­tin­ues to make its mark on the world of fash­ion, tangy Super Lemon brings a fun, opti­mistic out­look to the palette. Its lumi­nos­i­ty is deter­mined to evoke a smile and attract the rov­ing con­sumer’s eyes. Taking a cue from its lemo­ny neigh­bor, friend­ly and approach­able Salmon Rose also con­veys an opti­mistic out­look. The sub­tlest of oranges, Salmon Rose is flat­ter­ing to most com­plex­ions and is beau­ti­ful with a sum­mer glow. Think sen­su­al and seduc­tive Fuchsia Red for cloth­ing, as well as lip­stick and nail pol­ish selec­tions, this spring. With its blue under­tones, this cool red is a real show-stopper, adding a sense of ele­gance to the palette. 

Stabilizing neu­trals pro­vide prac­ti­cal­i­ty in a chang­ing eco­nom­ic land­scape. Not your aver­age beige, Rose Dust breaks away from the typ­i­cal neu­trals asso­ci­at­ed with spring by adding dimen­sion with sub­tle rose under­tones. And with its bluish-green under­tones, cool Slate Gray is a nuanced neu­tral that can be paired with any of the oth­er nine col­ors in the report.

Three greens, each with their own dis­tinct per­son­al­i­ty, round out the col­or palette for spring ’09, per­pet­u­at­ing the idea of fresh­ness and renew­al. Vibrant Green, the quin­tes­sen­tial spring hue, brings a true ver­dan­cy to the palette in a time of revi­tal­iza­tion. Dark Citron, a citrus-inspired green, is calmer and more seri­ous than most, offer­ing an ele­ment of sophis­ti­ca­tion to the mix. Reflective Lucite Green, a clean, clear sub­tle hue, adds a slight shimmer. 

Hot off the run­way, down­load your new Spring 2009 col­ors in a pre-built swatch­es file—exclusively from Designorati and Quark VS InDesign​.com

ColorsSpring2009​.zip (169kb). Includes Adobe Swatch Exchange (ASE) palette for all Creative Suite CS2, CS3, and CS4 appli­ca­tions, as well as .AI and .EPS ver­sions of the swatch­es palette for use in QuarkXPress, pre-CS2 ver­sions of Adobe appli­ca­tions, and oth­er prod­ucts; in .zip for­mat for Windows & OS X.