Puerto Rico Sunshine is a brilliant red/orange created by color gurus Pantone and an eco-friendly paint company, and ecoXplorer is taking bets that it becomes the island’s official color.
Discover Puerto Rico, the island’s destination marketing organization, developed the color in partnership with the Pantone Color Institute.
It’s something you can bring home, in more than your photos and memories.
The Puerto Rico Sunshine color is based on the findings of a Puerto Rican physicist and professor at the University of Puerto Rico.
Using some complicated science and technology including models of the solar radiation and the atmosphere at different moments throughout the day in several locations throughout the Island, Dr. Hector Jimenez found the perfect shade to represent the tropical warmth and open-hearted character of the island.
Eco-Friendly Paint
Through a partnership with ECOS Paints, Puerto Rico Sunshine is available as a limited edition color, ideal for an accent wall or refreshing a door frame or a piece of furniture. It will add a splash of happy color to any room.
ECOS Paints is an eco-friendly paint company, which produces a water-based paint that use sustainable ingredients to create an odorless, non-toxic VOC-free paint.
Think of it – green paint (as in eco-friendly) in all colors of the rainbow, sunrises and sunsets, including Puerto Rico Sunshine.
According to the press release, color #9001 on the ECOS webiste is “an exuberant and exotic vibrant red orange hue, infused with energizing warmth and a gregarious presence, Puerto Rico Sunshine radiates excitement, sending a message of enthusiasm and spontaneous adventure.
Encouraging conviviality and emotional connection, Puerto Rico Sunshine has a magnetic appeal that is reminiscent, not only of the tropical lush allure of Puerto Rico, but of the friendly and optimistic nature of its people.”
“Puerto Rico has so much sunshine to spare,” said Leah Chandler, chief marketing officer of Discover Puerto Rico.
“As the gloomy winter is upon much of the United States, we’re sharing the color of our sunshine to energize and revitalize people, especially during these coldest and darkest months. We want to encourage travelers to keep Puerto Rico in their plans for 2022 as the Island’s tropical charm is just a short plane ride away.
While not everyone may be ready to travel at this moment, they can incorporate the Island’s sunshine in their home as inspiration,” she added.
Inspiration in a Famous Painting
I would also suggest that the Puerto Rico Sunshine color is inspired in part by the famous painting known as Flaming June – one of my personal favorites.
Or, perhaps, it’s the other way around, and artist Sir Frederic Leighton was inspired by Puerto Rico sunshine when he painted her in the late 1800s.
Flaming June is one of the most important pieces of art in the Ponce Art Museum, which was severely damaged by Hurricane Fiona in 2022. The precious painting is on loan and on exhibit at NYC’s Metropolitan Museum of Art through 2023.
“We were very excited to create a color that brings to life the distinctive sunshine of Puerto Rico,” said Laurie Pressman, vice president of Pantone Color Institute.
“Animated in style with an enticing allure, glowing sun kissed Puerto Rico Sunshine is a vivid orange hue that celebrates the warm and welcoming spirit and the joyful disposition of this splendorous natural paradise.”
“ECOS Paints was drawn to Discover Puerto Rico’s efforts to attract visitors interested in connecting with the destination, caring for its ecosystem, and respecting the local community,” said Julian Crawford, CEO of ECOS Paints.
“We strongly believe our brands are aligned in the kind of values we want to instill and consumers we want to inspire, and we are delighted to be able to bring this idea to life through our eco-friendly paints.”
For inspiration on how to incorporate Puerto Rico Sunshine into everyday life (maybe your home office), renowned Puerto Rican interior designer Cristina Villalon suggests creating an eye-catching accent wall, revitalizing an old piece of furniture, and even using canvas to bring Puerto Rico Sunshine into any space in need of a colorful elevation.
Puerto Rico Sunshine will continue to make its way into people’s lives through a variety of off- and on-Island partnerships between Discover Puerto Rico and additional brands to be announced in the coming months.
For more information, visit www.DiscoverPuertoRico.com.
ecoXplorer Evelyn Kanter re-visited Puerto Rico in May 2022, site of the North American Travel Journalists Assn. (NATJA) Annual Convention.
Visits included Puerto Rico’s famed luminescent bio-bays, exploring both San Juan and Ponce, and enjoying Puerto Rican sunshine.
This article was published originally in April 2022, and has been updated for 2023.
ecoXplorer Evelyn Kanter is a journalist with 20+ years of experience as a newspaper and magazine writer, radio & TV news producer & reporter, and author of guidebooks and smartphone apps – all focusing on travel, automotive, the environment and your rights as a consumer.
ecoXplorer Evelyn Kanter currently serves as President of the International Motor Press Assn. (IMPA), a former Board Member of the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW) and a current member of the North American Travel Journalists Assn. (NATJA).
Contact me at evelyn@ecoxplorer.com.
Copyright (C) Evelyn Kanter
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