Contract Magazine - August 2019 - 30

Color
Trends
"Man needs color to live," the great modernist painter
Fernand Léger once said. Color is an important component
of our design-driven lives. So much so, that forecasting
the next "hot" color is big business, with textile,
automotive, furnishings, and housewares companies all
investing heavily for trend directions that can eventually
translate into successful products. Here we ask seven
designers and industry experts to highlight the colors they
think will be important in the next year and to tell us why.

COLOR: Heliotrop
PRODUCT: Heliotrope Ceiling at Rise Nation Gym, Denver, CO
Heliotrope is a pinkish-purple color with rich historical significance. A signal of wealth
in many historical contexts because, like many purples, it is was traditionally very expensive
to produce. It's a signal of mourning in Victorian culture, and its etymology refers to "turning
towards the sun." It is vibrant, electric and psychedelic. In contemporary context, it feels futuristic
and almost unnatural/synthetic. Even a bit scary or dystopian because of how non-organic
it looks at large scale. Perhaps this is because we are so divorced from the rich historical context
of the color. Purples went out of fashion after the 80s love of bright tints. Now, purples are
interesting again, in general, because they were traditionally such a gendered color range,
and as gender becomes more fluid, and androgyny more important in physical spaces, fashion
and technologies, heliotrope has a chance to be re-invented by creative minds. Heliotrope
is so vibrant that it demands your attention.
The ceiling at the new Rise Nation group fitness gym in Denver, CO reacts to music,
the instructor and the individual guest working out below by changing color. Heliotrope
was used in one of the sequences to add motivational heat.
EXPERTS: Noah Waxman, Head of Strategy, Cactus, and Lucas Werthein,
Head of Technology and Production, Cactus

COLOR: Emerald Green
PRODUCT: Orior Michael Sofa
"The green color nods to our heritage as an Irish company which we thought was important
on such a statement piece like this sofa, which was designed with the idea to push materials
and textures. We really wanted to create a statement piece which would push buttons.
As a brand that is new to the scene in Tribeca, New York, it would be amazing to create a
conversation around a solid brass sofa in green silk velvet and matte leather, which is
something we haven't really seen before. The arms also create a hollow channel all the way
through the sofa to give it more of a weightless feel, which created a great dynamic between
the extreme weight of it and the weightless aesthetic."
EXPERT: Jordan Trinci-Lyne, Senior Designer, Orior

COLOR: Pink Ground #202 & Tallow #203
PRODUCT: Farrow & Ball Paint
"Pink Ground #202 & Tallow #203 are two Farrow & Ball paint colors that I think represent
"circadian colors"-higher temperature colors that add an element of ease. If I use cool, awake
colors, it is only in touches in an understated way-and outside the bedroom. I am looking
for the settling, calming experience that colors like Pink Ground and Tallow bring. I have
been specifying, creating, and curating colors and pallets that my clients respond to
subconsciously. The nuances may not be obvious to them, but I see a significant difference
in both emotional responses as well as aesthetic results. One doesn't have to be a color
aficionado to appreciate it.
I try to fine tune the experience. Sometimes colors have warm undertones that you don't
necessarily see but you experience. The spirit is disguised in the color and it reads true
and consistent. My hope is for an appreciation of the energy it brings.
Pink ground #202 & Tallow #203 by Farrow & Ball are two packaged colors that have this
vibe. Although they are numbered in sequence, there is no relation. They actually don't even sit near
each other on the color chart fan. The similarity is that they are not sharp; they don't slant anywhere
near blue or green. There is no chill to them at all. They have sunnier qualities that supports wellness."
EXPERT: Martin Kesselman, Interior designer and Owner, INCOLOUR

contractdesign.com

AUGUST 2019

PHOTOGRAPHY: JASON DUCUSIN (THE CHEN AGENCY); BRIT NEMETH/CACTUS.IS (HELIOTROPE CEILING)

FEATURE

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Contract Magazine - August 2019

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