Thursday, April 23, 2009

Color Cues!







Greetings from sunny - yes, sunny! Seattle, where I'm spending most of the week at the Color Marketing Group's Spring Conference. We're ere to determine the upcoming color forecast for all industries, and of course, my main interest is what's happening with color in Home.






I can't give away all our secrets, but I can share this with you:

Red is getting warmer, and moving towards yellow, which means it can pass itself off as a red-orange. Blue-based reds are going away for now. Coral is back plays well with dark browns as well as with gray. Orange remains browned down and earthy - a continuation of the warm, spicy oranges that have been popular - think terra cotta. The look is "comfortable" yet upscale. A new, bright, juicy orange has been introduced that will make a great fun accent color.







Yellow-green is still strong, as is a mid-tone yellow, but the news is that greens are moving towards blue (think blue spruce) and yellow is moving towards green (think lemongrass). A new blackened green - darker than hunter green - has also been added to the forecast.




Two very different purples are forecast - one is a bright saucy purple that will enhance yellow-greens, caramels, and charcoals. The other is a blackened plum - deep, dark, and rich that can stand alone or work with copper, grayed greens, and yellow-oranges. Both move away from lavender and lilac and have much more chroma.
Browns are lightening up, yet a new true chocolate was introduced. As Seattle has a historical underground, this was appropriately named "underground brown", in tribute to our host city.
As mentioned in a previous post, it's no surprise that several gray hues made the forecast. Gray makes the perfect background for other bright colors, so it's very versatile.
My last morning in Seattle brought the normal colored sky - gray with rain. A perfect ending to a great conference, and just the right shade of gray at that.
Bruce Knott CMG





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