The color of the year 2017

The Pantone Color of the Year represents a certain rejuvenation. It is the annual announcement that wipes this year's color slate clean and forecasts what shade will refresh the design world in the year ahead.

Incidentally, that's exactly what the 2017 Color of the Year represents: refreshment, rejuvenation and rebirth, according to Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute. This year's youthful hue is also grounded enough to be neutral against the many other storied shades we have a history of loving.

What color could possibly pull all of it off? It's called Greenery.

Pantone has chosen greens in the past for Color of the Year, but never one as bright as Greenery, which is meant to evoke thoughts of flourishing foliage and, in turn, fresh beginnings. In 2013, the Color of the Year was Emerald, and in 2010, the green-blue Turquoise, but both hues were darker and more subdued than this year's color of choice.

Despite its yellow-green brightness, however, Greenery serves as an unexpected universal base for a plethora of other colors.

Take, for example, these three very different color schemes built around Greenery:

Fathomless

Transition

Rev it up

Pretty refreshing, right? Here's how the three palettes come together against the same Greenery wall: