Post-it Notes get a Pantone color makeover

So the old canary yellow sticky notes don't quite match the home office aesthetic. How about pink salt and orchid frost? Or the simply serene collection?

Maplewood-based 3M has teamed up with Pantone, the global color authority, to release 11 new Post-it Notes visual schemes that "make people feel a certain way."

The updated palettes come as many office workers establish new routines, with some returning to their offices full time or part time while others cement their home work space.

"People using the product weren't always the one buying it — that's where the color refresh is really important," said Heather Green, 3M's global business vice president for the stationery and office-supplies division. "People are more conscious of their home office supplies and coordinating with their home."

Office supplies like Post-it Notes have long been supplied by employers, but that's changed in the past two years. Now the brand has a whole new set of buyers as a quarter of Americans are expected to continue working from home at least part time in the coming years, according to Global Workplace Analytics.

"We want to make sure people can see what they wrote on the note, but we also brought in collections that are more on tone with the home," Green said.

The pandemic's work-from-home lifestyle fueled a new awareness of what a personalized office could feel like, said Amy Strodl, principal of Edina-based Varnish Design.

"A great office should motivate you, be energizing and keep you focused. And people just enjoy being able to infuse their spaces with the colors that bring them joy," she said.

The Post-it, arguably 3M's best-known consumer brand, has branched out into hundreds of varieties and colors over the years — and imitators have presented their own color combinations as well.

The Pantone partnership led to nine updated color collections and two new color schemes. Collections include bright and bold colors to more muted and neutral tones.

If the color coordination makes offices more Instagram-ready, Green said, that's a side benefit to the goal of "helping people get their thoughts out and being more communicative and more creative."

Widely known for picking the trendsetting Color of the Year — Veri Peri for 2022 — the Pantone Color Institute is seen as a prestigious color expert.

Laurie Pressman, vice president of the Pantone Color Institute, said Post-it is "a like-minded brand who teaches us how we can use the language of color to communicate and differentiate."

Post-it remains a market leader in the category 3M invented 40 years ago, Green said, but innovation is key even for the simple office tool.

"We're constantly looking at what our consumers need and how we can become more relevant in their lives," she said.

Customers spending more time at home over the past two years has boosted 3M's consumer division. Home improvement and office-supply sales helped push the segment to $5.85 billion in revenue last year — up 16% from 2019 — while overall sales have grown 10% in that time.

"We spend so much of our lives in our offices — you can't overstate having a beautiful, comfortable, organized office space," Strodl said. "It's smart of them to capitalize on the way color can energize you."