Colour Futures 2016

Colours are all around you! Discover the latest trends and find colour inspiration.

Heritage & Future

New - Heritage & Future
New - Heritage & Future

Driving the foundations of our identity. The starting point of our CF16 brainstorm was; ‘You need to know about your past in order to design for your future.’ Today’s global brands place great value on exploring and displaying their past history. At the design fair in Milan for example, many of the companies were showing their timelines alongside their future products. Why? Because their heritage lends them an authenticity and credibility that cannot be faked, provides a sense of longevity and also helps to shape their future. By looking both ways, they are able to take inspiration from the past, to demonstrate the foundations of identity, and gain confidence in their next steps forward. Vintage and antique references may be contrasted with – or support – the modern-day; and there is a sense that by appreciating one’s history, both as a person or a company, we build value and become more fully shaped and prepared for designing the future. Translated into a colour palette, we see the reds that reflect our rich heritage, but also have a bright contemporary feel that points to the future.

Words & Pictures

New - Words & Pictures
New - Words & Pictures

Documenting our lives. We live in an age of visual saturation, where our every moment is recorded and posted on social media. As a result, we see quantity over quality, with imagery becoming devalued through its overuse. The old phrase ‘a picture paints a thousand words’ has now almost become reversed, since words – whether spoken or written – are forever being squeezed in our fast-paced lives. They are restricted and shortened on social media, while we increasingly communicate using pictures alone. (Which of course can be photoshopped, so we don’t always trust them.) As a consequence, there is a new found power in words, especially when used in the right context. In China, the art of traditional oral storytelling is back in fashion – and we are beginning to see clubs and societies devoted to this in the Western world as well. The trend for words can also be seen in the use of lettering in interior design and architecture; but rather than words and images being in opposition, one completes the other. The corresponding colour palette uses the blue of ink and grey of graphite in contrast to tones familiar with smartphone and social media filters.

Dark & Light

New - Dark & Light
New - Dark & Light

Documenting our lives. We live in an age of visual saturation, where our every moment is recorded and posted on social media. As a result, we see quantity over quality, with imagery becoming devalued through its overuse. The old phrase ‘a picture paints a thousand words’ has now almost become reversed, since words – whether spoken or written – are forever being squeezed in our fast-paced lives. They are restricted and shortened on social media, while we increasingly communicate using pictures alone. (Which of course can be photoshopped, so we don’t always trust them.) As a consequence, there is a new found power in words, especially when used in the right context. In China, the art of traditional oral storytelling is back in fashion – and we are beginning to see clubs and societies devoted to this in the Western world as well. The trend for words can also be seen in the use of lettering in interior design and architecture; but rather than words and images being in opposition, one completes the other. The corresponding colour palette uses the blue of ink and grey of graphite in contrast to tones familiar with smartphone and social media filters.

The Grid & Letting Go

New - Grid & Letting Go
New - Grid & Letting Go

Freedom within a framework. We are increasingly seeing the appeal of going ‘off grid’ in order to find oneself in the modern world. Office workers go to morning dance parties before going to work. Digital agencies organise knitting clubs, valuing the chance to produce something physical and tangible. But it’s impossible to talk of going back to the wild and living offline without a frame of reference. We need boundaries in which to live, even if we seek to rebel against them; freedom is only understandable within the context of a framework. Or, to put it another way: you can’t break the mould if you don’t have a mould in the first place. The Folk Circus in Brooklyn, New York is evidence of how the modern, urban lifestyle yearns for such controlled chaos. The use of organic forms in product design is another case of allowing the imagination to flourish by not feeling bound or restricted by grids. Hence the colours in this palette are vivid and playful, yet still held back by the black and white of the grid.

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