It’s landed—with a warm embrace that brings calm and comfort.

No, not the season of cozy sweaters, open fires and general goodwill, but PANTONE 17-1230 Mocha Mousse, which is the Pantone Color of the Year 2025.

The big reveal will have color-curious creatives and consumers thinking of ways to bring the flavorful brown shade into their work and worlds.

So, with the color out of the can, here’s the lowdown on why the color experts arrived at PANTONE 17-1230 Mocha Mousse, how they expect the color to resonate and what it means for web designers creating on Wix Studio.

Introducing Pantone Color of the Year 2025

The all-embracing spirit of PANTONE 13-1023 Peach Fuzz in 2024 reminded us of our desire to be together with others. PANTONE 17-1230 Mocha Mousse leans further into our craving for comfort, a richly mellow brown hue bringing harmony and balance to the demands of our busy lives and the complexities of our modern world.

Offering hints of cacao, chocolate and coffee, PANTONE 17-1230 Mocha Mousse invites us to slow down and indulge in everyday pleasures.

Laurie Pressman, Vice President of the Pantone Color Institute, says the overarching factors influencing the choice include our longing for comfort and harmony, desire to align ourselves more closely with the natural world and quest for simple pleasures that elevate the everyday. The “foodification” of color also played a part, recognizing the special appeal we hold for colors with food names.

“Underpinned by our desire for everyday pleasures, this color expresses a level of thoughtful indulgence,” she says. “Sophisticated and lush, yet at the same time an unpretentious classic, PANTONE 17-1230 Mocha Mousse extends our perceptions of the browns from being humble and grounded to embrace aspirational and luxe.”

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How do they choose the Pantone Color of the Year?

PANTONE® lives and breathes color. The company provides a universal language that enables color-critical decisions for brands and manufacturers, while its consulting service, the Pantone Color Institute, forecasts global color trends and advises companies on color in brand identity and product development.

Each year, its team of global color experts, with a wide range of design, cultural and geographical backgrounds, combs the globe looking for new color influences to help them choose the Pantone Color of the Year.

The team finds inspiration in many sources, including the entertainment industry and films in production, traveling art collections, new artists and fashion. They also tap into aspirational travel destinations, new lifestyles, playstyles or enjoyable escapes, and more serious matters like socio-economic conditions and social values.

Influences can also stem from new technologies, materials, textures and effects that impact color, relevant social media platforms and upcoming sporting events that capture worldwide attention.

“The color we select to be our Pantone Color of the Year is a color we see crossing all areas of design that serves as an expression of a mood and an attitude on the part of the consumers,” says Pressman. “It’s a color that will resonate around the world, a color that reflects what people are looking for, what they feel they need that color can help to answer.”

A brief history of the Pantone Color of the Year

The Pantone Color Institute created the Pantone Color of the Year educational program in 1999 to engage the design community and color enthusiasts worldwide in a conversation around color. Its goal was to highlight the relationship between culture and color and help companies and consumers better understand the power color can have. Twenty-six years later, that same thought process driving the program still rings true.

PANTONE 17-1230 Mocha Mousse marks a milestone for Pantone Color of the Year as it’s the first color from the brown family to be selected. With that in mind, let’s look back at the color selections from the past decade.

2024: PANTONE 13-1023 Peach Fuzz

PANTONE 13-1023 Peach Fuzz is a heartfelt peach hue that brought a feeling of kindness and tenderness to the world at a time when we needed it. It communicated a message of caring and sharing, community and collaboration, and nicely paved the way for this year’s choice.

2023: PANTONE 18-1750 Viva Magenta

PANTONE 18-750 Viva Magenta dropped in late 2022 with vim and vigor. A shade rooted in nature descending from the red family, it expressed a new signal of strength and promoted a joyous and optimistic celebration—feelings well overdue, as we emerged from a challenging few years.

2022: PANTONE 17-3938 Very Peri

Remember in 2021 when everyone was talking about the Metaverse? Well, that was among several trends, such as the rising artistic community in the digital space, which led to the selection of PANTONE 17-3938 Very Peri. The color illustrated the fusion of modern life and how color trends in the digital world were being manifested in the physical one.

2021: PANTONE 17-5104 Ultimate Gray + PANTONE 13-0647 Illuminating

This was the second time two independent colors came together to support one another in expressing the mood of the moment. In a year when many of us were in and out of lockdown, the union of PANTONE 17-5104 Ultimate Gray + PANTONE 13-0647 Illuminating offered fortitude and positivity, encapsulating deeper feelings of experience, wisdom and the need for resilience with the promise of something sunny and friendly.

2020: PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue

No one could have predicted what was coming down the tracks in late 2020, but PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue was right on the money. Suggestive of the sky at dusk, the reassuring qualities of the thought-provoking blue hue highlighted our desire for a dependable and stable foundation on which to build.

2019: PANTONE 16-1546 Living Coral

PANTONE 16-1546 Living Coral was a response to the onslaught of digital technology and social media increasingly embedding into daily life. It embodied our desire for authenticity and immersive experiences that enable connection and intimacy.

2018: PANTONE 18-3838 Ultra Violet

Nuanced and full of emotion, PANTONE 18-3838 Ultra Violet symbolized experimentation and non-conformity, spurring individuals to imagine their unique mark on the world and push boundaries through creative outlets.

2017: PANTONE 15-0343 Greenery

Illustrative of flourishing foliage and the lushness of the great outdoors, the fortifying attributes of PANTONE 15-0343 Greenery told consumers to take a deep breath, oxygenate and reinvigorate. The color also encapsulated a craving to immerse ourselves in the physical beauty and inherent unity of the natural world.

2016: PANTONE 13-1520 Rose Quartz + PANTONE 15-3919 Serenity

This blending of two shades was a softer take on the kind of colors usually chosen. Joined together, PANTONE 13-1520 Rose Quartz and PANTONE 15-3919 Serenity demonstrated an inherent balance between a warmer embracing rose tone and the cooler tranquil blue, reflecting connection, wellness and a soothing sense of order and peace.

2015: PANTONE 18-1438 Marsala

PANTONE 18-1438 Marsala embodied the satisfying richness of a fulfilling meal while its grounding red-brown roots emanated a sophisticated, natural earthiness. This hearty yet stylish tone is universally appealing and translates easily to fashion, beauty, industrial design, home furnishings and interiors.

What happens when the Pantone Color of the Year meets web design?

Color is just as critical for those creating websites as it is for creatives in any discipline of design. It influences user emotions, perceptions and behaviors, guides interactions and enhances brand recognition while ensuring accessibility and readability.

To recognize the critical relationship between color and web design and mark Pantone Color of the Year 2025, Wix Studio and PANTONE® teamed up to create the first-ever web design asset collection curated in PANTONE 17-1230 Mocha Mousse.

The limited-edition web capsule lets web designers craft immersive sites that speak directly to the senses through texture, movement and responsiveness. Predesigned for creative momentum, but fully customizable for creative freedom, these assets give web designers instant access to one of the major emerging web design trends the rest of the world is only waking up to—exclusively on Wix Studio.

Pressman expects that web designers will use the color wisely, utilizing it in various ways, including in text, backgrounds, visuals, homepage design, as a primary color and for CTAs.

“How the color is used will depend on the brand, product and mood the web designer is looking to create,” she says. “The color itself conveys a welcoming warmth, inspiring feelings of comfort. It is also a naturally authentic shade which translates into honesty, evoking feelings of trust.”

Use PANTONE 17-1230 Mocha Mousse in your web designs on Wix Studio.