By: Tannese Williams

"Because I support the work that the Danaher Black + Friends ARG (Associate Resource Group) is implementing, I feel incredibly proud. Day in and day out, there are a group of brilliant people thinking, planning, preparing…doing amazing work that benefits Black associates at Danaher. They are connected to a cause larger to themselves…"For the Culture" personified.

Getting to Know the Artist

Anna Taylor is the Director of Global Communications at Phenomenex. As a graphic designer, she considers Pantone 18-3224 Radiant Orchid and Pantone 18-1438 Marsala as her favorite colors and uses Pantone 17-5104 Ultimate Gray as her go-to accent color. As a Pantone enthusiast, she considers the For the Culture Cortado Thermo Cups as her favorite lifestyle product. Anna works closely with the Danaher Corporate (Pantone’s parent company) Associate Resource Groups to plan communication strategy, support content development, and measure the impact of the ARGs' overall communication efforts—from a newsletter to content.

Celebrating Juneteenth

When asked about Juneteenth, Anna shares that she feels strongly that we, as society should celebrate theses holidays with sensitivity and respect and not commercialism. It’s a time for us to celebrate and empower each other. For her, celebrating Juneteenth is dedicating the day to rest. “In a hustle and bustle culture, rest is something my ancestors yearned for and wasn't granted enough of. So I rest. I push aside the urge to always grind, to take a moment to reflect and acknowledge the freedom I have to decide not to labor. This is utterly sacred for me in a country where that decision was not given to my ancestors until they were free.”

The Pantone Culture Mug Inspiration

Anna was commissioned to come up with an art piece for Danaher’s Black History Month 2022 theme: “For the Culture”. While researching skin color pigmentation of Black people used in different art designs, Anna was inspired by Rhianna’s Fenty Cosmetic Line. “Rihanna has broken barriers for Black people when looking for makeup that matched our skin tones. I knew if I took Fenty’s lead, I would get the beautiful rainbow of hues that represent our people.”

Anna came up with "Melanated" – an art piece with the word “Culture” assigned hues ranging from Caramel to Coffee to Chocolate and shades in between, to represent “the hues that represent our people”. "When I was done with it, I was proud of it. It said so much without needing to do a lot. I was hoping others would see it and see themselves represented."

With the success of Melanated, Anna collaborated with Pantone and Copenhagen Design to design and launch “For the Culture” drinkware. The inspiration started when she found a blog that translated Fenty’s color palette into Photoshop codes. She then used that as inspiration to match these colors from the Pantone PMS Colors. Future releases of this mug will feature colors from Pantone’s SkinTone™ Guide, which currently has 110 different skin tones to choose from.