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Creative Prince

Prince’s signature purple enshrined with custom Pantone shade, Love Symbol #2

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By Katie Deighton, Senior Reporter

August 15, 2017 | 3 min read

The Pantone Color Institute has partnered with the estate of the late pop icon Prince to create Love Symbol #2, a standardised custom colour designed to honour the singer and his love of purple.

Prince Pantone

The shade was inspired by Prince's Yamaha piano

While Prince was known to covet all shades of the purple spectrum, Pantone colourists drew inspiration specifically from his bespoke Yamaha piano, which he was planning to take on tour before his death in April last year.

It was the 1984 film and soundtrack Purple Rain – as well as Prince’s scene-stealing motorbike – that arguably cemented the singer’s proclivity for the latter end of the rainbow spectrum.

The new colour has been launched alongside Prince’s signature glyph, The Love Symbol, which he changed his name to in 1993.

“The colour purple was synonymous with who Prince was and will always be,” said Troy Carter, entertainment advisor to Prince’s Estate. “This is an incredible way for his legacy to live on forever.”

Laurie Pressman, vice-president of the Pantone Color Institute, said the company was “honoured” to commemorate Prince’s cultural legacy with a brand new shade.

“A musical icon known for his artistic brilliance, Love Symbol #2 is emblematic of Prince’s distinctive style,” she said. “Long associated with the purple family, Love Symbol #2 enables Prince’s unique purple shade to be consistently replicated and maintain the same iconic status as the man himself."

Prince legacy also lives on through a dedicated online memorial, which allows fans to trawl through all past iterations of the artist’s website using a reverse chronological timeline.

Pantone is no stranger to working with more traditional brands, partnering with Airbnb for a green-fingered campaign earlier this year and developing a fashion collection with Barbour.

Creative Prince

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