Yellow was first released on June 26, 2000 in the UK and helped Coldplay gain international recognition. Twenty-five years later, Coldplay performs a record-breaking 10-day run at Wembley Stadium. Wembley Park enlisted Pantone to create YELLOW 25 on the Spanish Steps, applying Pantone Matching System shades across all 58 steps. Choices of intensity, depth, and spacing were designed to echo the music's rhythm and flow, translating verses and melodies into a visual progression. The steps graduate from pale muted hues to deeper golden tones and display the line "And it was all yellow," deepening in intensity as an homage to the song's emotional journey.
Pantone approached the project with more than just a surface-level color match. Every choice - from the intensity of the shades to the depth and spacing between them - was designed to echo the rhythm and flow of the music. The installation unfolds like the song itself, translating verses and melodies into a visual journey. The outcome feels understated yet expansive, drawing viewers in regardless of whether they recognize Coldplay's 'Yellow' or not.
Beginning with pale, muted hues all the way to deeper, more golden tones, the yellows follow the song's progression. An iconic line from the song, "And it was all yellow," emblazons the steps with a white background in the beginning, slowly building into various sunny shades up at the top. The tones deepen in intensity as the steps go on, an homage to the musical and emotional journey that's made the song such a hit.
Yellow is an expansive color - of bright sun, lemons, and taxicabs. The first line of the song, "Look at the stars/look how they shine for you," inviting the listener to consider the possibility of life. Allegedly, the song was written in just a night, the title derived from an errant Yellow Pages sitting on the studio floor. As park goers ascend the steps, each holds many vertices of the color within, much like music.
Collection
[
|
...
]