Ballard Blossom Blog

For 2021, two colors – Ultimate Grey and Illuminating – have been selected as the Pantone Color of the Year. This practical color combination that was chosen for its ability to help us feel optimistic and uplifted while reflecting what is taking place in our global culture and inviting us to embrace the value of our differences. This year’s selection provides a stark contrast from last year’s Color of the Year, Classic Blue, a reflective blue tone evocative of the vast and infinite evening sky. As the global color authority and provider of professional color language standards, the color experts at the Pantone Color Institute comb the world looking for new color influences in order to select a new color each year. Pantone chose Illuminating as its 2021 Color of the Year first, only months later deciding to add a second hue, with the intention of them being seen and interpreted as a pair. What difference do these color declarations make? Plenty, because they are the colors you can e...

The good news is we have reached the end of 2020 – a year will forever be remembered by the unprecedented impact it had on our world. The reality is that the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic has ushered in many changes throughout every aspect of our lives, from how we live and work to how we interact and shop. The small-business owner, in many cases the heart and soul of a city or neighborhood, was hit particularly hard by the restrictions, mandatory closings and sudden rule changes that often left them scrambling to keep their lights on. Shoppers too were forced to adapt to new methods of procuring goods and services while trying to remain as safe as possible. There are many lessons to be learned from 2020, but perhaps the most important is refocusing on serving each individual customer and offering them the safest and most efficient way of shopping. When corporations like Amazon allow people to shop for nearly anything they can dream of and have it delivered to their door in two days,...