When Pantone unveiled Cloud Dancer , a soft, billowy white, as its 2026 Color of the Year, the idea was serenity: a “blank canvas” for a noisy world, a hue meant to signal calm, clarity and fresh starts.

The internet seems to have responded with a collective shrug — and a swipe toward phthalo green instead.

A ‘non-color’ color of the year

Pantone leaders described Cloud Dancer as a natural, airy white meant to bridge our digital lives and our “primal need for human connection,” something that can sit quietly behind family photos, couches and Christmas trees.

But a white shade — especially the first white Pantone has ever crowned as color of the year — was bound to stir opinions. And it has.

Some designers praised Cloud Dancer as soothing and sustainable, noting that many people al

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