Pantone’s annual Color of the Year announcement generates a lot of creative discourse at the end of the year, including from “color liberator” and artist Stuart Semple.

In response to Pantone’s proclamation of “Peach Fuzz” as 2024’s Color of the Year, Semple has released “Cheap Buzz” as social commentary on the weight and significance we all collectively bestow upon Pantone as the world’s leading color expert. Unlike Pantone, Semple doesn’t lock hues behind a subscription and has no love for making what basically amounts to a frequency number on the visual spectrum proprietary.