One-fifth of the world's coral reefs have already disappeared or are suffering from severe damage. In an attempt to combat this trend and raise awareness, Adobe and the Pantone Color Institute have teamed up with the Ocean Agency to launch a campaign that uses creativity to inspire change.

Coral reefs may be full of vibrant colors, but if they’re too vivid, it can spell trouble. This rarity — dubbed fluorescing — is coral’s attempt to resist extremely high temperatures.

While filming the Netflix Original Documentary Chasing Coral, the Ocean Agency “came across this unbelievable phenomenon in New Caledonia,” said Richard Vevers, Founder and CEO of the Ocean Agency. “These corals were fluorescing these incredibly vivid colors. We captured this imagery and it was in the film.”

“It was almost like the corals were crying out in color, saying ‘look at me,’” said Vever. “No one was noticing because they think that it’s something going on completely out of sight and out of mind, underwater.”

Adobe and the Pantone Color Institute were able to analyze the images provided by the Ocean Agency to create three new colors: Glowing Yellow, Glowing Blue, and Glowing Purple. These “reflect the three colors that corals sometimes fluoresce before they die,” said Brenda Mills, Principal of Creative Services and Visual Trends for Adobe Stock.

These colors fit in perfectly with Pantone's 2019 color of the year, Living Coral, and bring heightened awareness to climate change's potential devastation of our coral reefs.

The campaign kicks off on June 3 with a design challenge. The creative community can use the Glowing, Glowing, Gone colors in designs or products to help bolster awareness for coral reef conservation. Designers have the opportunity for their art to be featured in New York City’s Times Square as well as key conferences and events for ocean policy.

“Since we’re at the intersection of creativity and technology, we believe that creativity can inspire not only awareness but it can inspire change,” said Mills. The campaign hopes that the colors become a symbol of coral reef conservation.

With climate change happening fast, now is the time to act. It’s not just about policy, either — public opinion can mean everything. “You do need support to protect the reefs that we know we can save,” said Vever.

By partnering with the Ocean Agency, Adobe and Pantone are the latest companies taking a “Brand Stand.” Mills explained that “consumers are actually building their brand loyalty around the stand that companies take and how well they communicate their role in social issues and environmental issues.”

The three new colors are available as both Pantone colors for brand use and in digital toolkits for Adobe products.