Colour FuturesTMInternationalColour Trends 2015
2015ColourFuturesIdentifying emerging trendsWelcome to AkzoNobel’s ColourFutures 2015; able to provide vital information for our globalour 12th annual trend and colour forecasting coatings market. So whether you are an architectpublication. or interior designer, work within the colours andAs the largest colour and coatings manufacturer coatings industry or are an informed customer,in the world, AkzoNobel ensures itis always one our trend and colour forecastingis a vital part ofstep ahead of our customers’needs by constantly your business.monitoring emerging social, economic and design As part of our trend research AkzoNobel’s Globaltrends around the world and inviting a select panel Aesthetic Center invites a group of respected in-of independent design experts to forecast the dependent design and trend experts to discusscolour developments two years ahead of time. emerging worldwide trends, resulting in theBecause our research and forecasting is always ColourFutures workshop, where our senior in-rooted in the real world and informed by both the ternal colour experts develop the trend storiesdesign industry and consumer behaviour, we are and colour palettes for CF15 that you see here.
‘Everything you can imagine is real.’ Pablo PicassoThe largest paints andcoatings manufacturerin the world+a selectpanel of trend experts+one overriding trend+five stories aboutfinding the wonderfulin the normal+thecolour of the year+ 65colours+ a detachablecolour palette +the magic in everyday.
contents 05 The driving influence 06 Colour of the year 10 New colour trends12B ig nature + small me24 Layer+ layer36+Unseen spaces48Him+her60Friendly barter+ 72 Resources 73 Colour palette 2015
‘I used to dream about escaping myordinary life, but my life was never ordinary.I had simply failed to notice how extraordinary it was.’ RansomRiggs
5Fwinodnidngertfhuelin the normal driving influence for 2015 Every year, ColourFutures presents five colour environment as a whole, we are learning to trends,inspired by one larger idea: the driving look at the world around us in new and unique influence that holds all of the trends together and ways. We are finding new, subtle ways to add influences what our colour of the year will be. colour to our lives,with a renewed emphasis on For 2015, the overriding mood is one of both developing a more caring,sharing environment searching for and finding that extra which for all. Sustainability is now a requirement rather makes the difference to our lives. After years than a preference; and it needs to be backed up of pro-actively looking for, connecting and un- by genuine commitment.It’s a reaction against locking our potential,2015 is about that added consumerism; acelebrationofdifferenceandthe refinement: putting the+into the everyday. By wisdom to be found in unique,individual stories. exploring under-utilised spaces,as well as our It’s about finding the wonderful in the normal: the relationships both with each other and with our magic in the everyday.
6 COLOUR OF THE YEAR 2015 50YR 36/263copper orange As witnessed at global events from Stockholm and It reflects and complements all of the major trends Milan to Shanghai,metallic colour tones are playing that we have identified for 2015: a warmth in attitude an increasingly important role in modern design. and a renewed emphasis on sharing; the natural Replacing the cool blues and greens of recent years, palette of the earth, from clay tones to sunlit highlights a warmer spectrum of pinks,reds and oranges is of yellow; the skin tones that reflect human interaction emerging,reflecting a more positive global outlook. and the sepia hues of the past. As a paint translation of this trend, our research It is a colour of depth and currency that combines all points to this orangey copper tone. Great on its wonderfully with the everyday. own, the colour also combines perfectly with pinks, neutrals,whites and other orange hues,as well as metallic colours such as gold.
It really comes alive combined with flesh pink,clay toned neutrals, a tinytouch of bright yellow, crisp whites, wood tones and ofcourse copper. mvrdv.nl
9 Ourcolourof theyear for 2015 breathes warmth into interiors. surprising warm beautiful
Five wonderful stories
about normal things...
12 big Nature + small meputting thingsinto perspectiveWrapped up in a modern world that is often rigid double as your personal camping gear). Whether ceilings and endless corridors,we search for aand constraining, we long for a simpler way it is training for an Ironman or hiking the Pacific sense of security through the human scale ofthat is natural, free and – crucially – offline. Nature Crest Trail– which Cheryl Strayed vividly depicts smaller environments, which shield and embracerepresents all that is unpredictable and un- in her autobiography Wild– this is about finding us. This trend mimics the beautiful flow of nature’stameable; it can be still and gentle or wild and strength and clarity through physical hardship colours and materials to create spaces that aresavage. Its increasing volatility is commanding and the dwarfing scale of nature. warming and comforting.new respect and awe; and with this we see a Whilewemightnotallwanttochallengeourselves The big nature, small me colour palette capturestrend for individuals that want to pit themselves to this degree, the idea of a more authentic and the sun-scorched feel of the Arizona desert; vastagainst the elements to find out what they are mindfulexistenceappealstomost,andisinspiring and intimidating yet strikingly beautiful. Richtruly made of. This is a new definition of freedom, a new minimalism,stripping away all that is un- earth tones of sepia, ochre, sienna and baked claywheretheonlypossessionsyouneedareavanand necessary and purely cosmetic. Although we are create a tonal palette which is natural and strong,a backpack(or, in the case ofTom Dixon’s Adidas impressed by vast architectural spaces with high much like the environment that inspires it.collection for Milan 2013, a single garment that can
Jensen & Skodvin Architects14 ‘Believe inyourself and all that you are. Know that there is something inside you that is greater than any obstacle.’ Christian D.Larson Wisdom
Challenge ADVENTURE +sNbmiagtaulrle me
16The colour palette captures the sun-scorched feel of the Arizona desert;vast and intimidating yet strikingly beautiful.
+smNbmiaegtaulrle
80YR 46/243 80YR 76/08620YY 40/608 70YR 27/40460YR 30/094 10YR 50/101
10BB 55/065 20YY 38/22530YR 16/162 20YY 32/49470YR 09/086 +sNbmiagtaulrle me
iTsheiindesapofiarminoregaauthnenetwic amnd mininidmfulaexliisstemnce,stripping away all that is unnecessary and purely cosmetic.
+sbNmiagtaulrle 21 me
22 Although we are impressed by vast architectural spaces with high ceilings and endless corridors, we search for a sense of security through the human scale of smaller environments.
+smNbmiaegtaulrle
25Layer+layerstorytellingthrough designWe live increasingly multi-dimensional lives,with In the product design world, we have seen pastel hues (all augmented by our colour of theadded depths revealing themselves the more the Netherlands Droog Design explore layered year); while the use of fading,overlaying andwe look and explore ourselves and our environ- seating concepts,while Danish designer Pernille opaque materials adds to the sense of depth.ment.The digital landscape adds further layers to Snedker Hansen’s Marbelous Wood–Refractionthe world around us,not simply in terms of space employs the patterns of marbling and refractedbut also time. For instance,Shawn Clover’sTime lighttoaddnewlayeranddepthtowoodenflooring.Melts project is an example of the growing on- This trend is translated into the subtle use ofline trend for creating composite images that clusters or groups of colour, rather than a singlecombine the past with the present; blending shadeusedinisolation.Thecombinationofvariousscenes of contemporary San Francisco street life colours is key here, in predominantly soft andwith images of the1906 earthquake.
multi-layeredoverlaidpatterned
‘Design is the fundamentalsoul of a man-made creationthat ends up expressing itself in successive outer layers.’ Steve Jobs Rob ‘t Hart Layer+layer
28The digital landscape adds furtherlayers to the world around us, not simplyin terms of space but also time. brickettdavda.comLayer+layer
90RR 76/062 60YY 55/50450YR 36/263 04RB 71/09210YR 50/101 30BG 64/07270RR 41/065
70YY 55/299 45YY 66/512 40YY 67/087 10YY 68/11050GY 83/040 10YY 83/071 Layer+layer
32 Layer+layer
This trend is translated into the subtleuse of clusters or groups of colour, ratherthan a single shade used in isolation.
35 We live increasingly multi-dimensional lives, with added depths revealing themselves the more we look and explore ourselves and our environment. Layer+layer
37 +The luxury of thein-betweenWith space increasingly at a premium in our yards of Amsterdam’s canal district in their project three-dimensional depth where there is none.modern lives,we are learning to value and make between-space, creating new areas to explore. A very sophisticated collection of colours,thisuse of previously neglected,unseen or unloved Interior design is teaching us to maximize the palette takes three different directions in hue; blueareas of our environment.Turning the famous potential of under-utilised space: be it a mezza- grey, khaki and neutral pink.With four tones ofWilliam Morris quote inside out–‘have nothing nine, a hallway or the corner under the stairs. eachtochoosefrom,pluswhite,differentstrengthsin your home that you do not know to be useful Similarly, decorative techniques can draw our of the same hue can be combined for a tonal effector believe to be beautiful’– we are now looking attention to previously overlooked areas or or different hues across a single strength for aat the unuseful and the ugly from a new perspec- accessories, while the use of trompe l’oeil and more varied but harmonized look.tive. We are making a virtue out of negative space optical illusion can define new space by drawingand creating beauty and use where previously our eye to it.there was none.This idea of‘leftover’space is brilliantly explored This effect can be exaggerated through theby the Non-Fiction Design Collective,who have subtle use of colour: for instance by using darkbreathed new life into the alleyways and court- and light shades together to give the illusion of
38NEW LUXURY ar-arquitetos.com.br‘The undiscovered is not far away. It is containedwithin what is right in front of us.’ H.E. Davey
‘There is more in heaven and earth than isdreamt of in your philosophy.’ William Shakespeare UN-NOTICEDRe-interpretationskandium.com +
We are making a virtue out of negative 40space and creating beauty and use wherepreviously there was none.
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30BB 21/056 30BB 31/02230RR 22/031 90RR 35/06040YY 25/074 40YY 41/054
+30BB 45/015 00NN 62/00050YR 47/057 50YR 73/02230YY 56/060 30GY 76/017
Decorative techniques can draw our attention to 45previously overlooked areas or accessories.
+ Interior design is teaching us to maximiZe the potential of under-utilised space.
48 him+herCelebrating the beautyof being differentAs we seek and attain greater gender equality wear boots while they re-engage with traditional In terms of colour palette,we see the traditionalboth in the workplace and at home, so we are crafts and skills. They no longer feel emasculated femininehuesofdamson,powderpinkandcreamlearning to celebrate our uniqueness. Confident in their domestic roles; the hunter-gatherer combined with masculine khaki,slate grey andin our own skin,there is a growing trend towards impulse sees them challenging themselves teal: but they also combine and complementcelebrating the best of each sex; in the importance against the extremes of nature or catching their themselves wonderfully when used together.of difference as well as equality. own fish,smoking their own meat and making The look here is classic,understated and very sureMen and women are both flourishing in this ex- craft beer. of itself. Rich dark wood and confident furnitureploration of the distinctiveness of their gender– In turn,women are revelling in a return to both or accessories make a statement with no com-while also acknowledging how the masculine the feminine and the feminist (and seeing no promise. Equally dynamic on a front door orand the feminine can complement each other. contradiction in combining the two). They no the walls of a bar, restaurant, or home, this isAfter the trend for androgyny in fashion,men and longer feel they have to mimic male traits in the trend for people who are proud to be them-women are increasingly being encouraged to play order to succeed in the office, because they selves – and want stylish surroundings to match.on the traditions of masculinity and femininity. are no longer operating in a patriarchal world. Colour combinations here should be simpleMen are growingNed Kelly beards and wearing A soft, subtle, female influence often proves and tone-on-tone,embracing the atmosphericlumberjack shirts,all-weather clothing and work- equally effective and strong– if not more so– in quality of a single colour or the perfect partnership comparison with the masculine approach. ofsimilar shades.
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